


How  to tape up a broken Family

by unoriginalwriter97



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Gen, I stil love steve rogers, M/M, Parent Steve Rogers, Parent Tony Stark, Parent Trap AU, Superfamily (Marvel), Tony Stark Has A Heart, both steve and tony are idiots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-30 06:43:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14491107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unoriginalwriter97/pseuds/unoriginalwriter97
Summary: Peter and Ben are twins that have spent a lifetime apart but one faithful summer they are reunited and upon finding out about their parent's tragic love story they take matters into their own hands by switching places in hopes of bringing their dads back together





	1. Will it be enough?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two young men swore internal love to each other in a improvised wedding and and even though their love was pure and true in there wedding vows they made promise to each other that they did not know they wouldn't be able to keep

**_~L is for the way you look at me, O is for the only one I see_ **  
**_V is very, very extraordinary, E is even more than anyone that you adore, Love is all that I can give to you, Love is more than just a game for two, Two in love can make it take my heart and please don't break it Love was made for me and you ~_ **

 

The music continued to play in the background as the photographer captured the image of the happy newlywed couple. Seconds, after the picture was taken Tony, took his new husband by the tie and pulled him in for a kiss. Steve happily Kissed him back while not resisting the urge to smile as the warm lips embraced his, eventually a laughter as sweet as honey broke out, with foreheads still pressed against each other and lips still so close together that they could touch with the slightest movement, it didn't take much for the laughter to infect the young inventor.

                                                                    "You know, right now I can't decide what is more addicting your laughter or those lips"

He playfully pushed him away. Trying hard not to blush but failing in his attempt.

"Dear god that was so horribly cheesy... Oh, my god, my husband is so cheesy...my husband"

Tony said with a nervous laughter as the realization that he had just eloped in a ship hit him like an iceberg

"...Crazy, huh?"  
The other man added with a similar tone, but the honest smile that was painted on his face made the brunette's anxiety temporarily disappear.

"I don't regret it, but it's just... Well, like you said crazy"

Tony reassured him by taking the other man's hand and squeezing it.

Steve's blue eyes fell fondly on their tangled hands  
"Neither do I, despite how unusual and reckless this is, I wouldn't trade it for the world" Steve paused and stroke Tony's arm with his other hand "I love you more than anything and considering that you agreed to marry me I'm assuming you feel the same way"

He said in a playful tone  
"That's all we need everything will fall into place"

Tony placed his free hand over Steve's mouth interrupting what seemed to be an inspiring speech about how their love will conquer all, now that he thought about it Steve seemed to have on of those for every scenario, it was really a talent, an annoying one at times but it was still a talent.

"I like your spirit, soldier, and no matter how sweet your intentions are there's no need for you to repeat your wedding vows. I propose we don't think about the shit-storm that is waiting for us out there and instead..."  
He grabbed the bottle of champagne and poured it into two glasses handing on to his new husband and raising the other in his hand.  
"We should focus on the fact that we just got fucking married!"

Steve cling their glasses together  
"sounds good to me"

Tony shot the blond a flirtatious look as he took a sip of his drink.

"So how about you, invite your husband to dance, we drink some more champagne and we eat some cake and then I can take you to our room and ride you like there's no tomorrow"

The soldier almost choked on his drink, his face visually flushed.

"Um..ugh..uhh..yes, yes, that sounds good"

He nodded and cleared his throat before getting up and straightening out his uniform, he then offered his hand to Tony.

"How about we start with a dance?"

The other eagerly took his hand and stood up.

" would love to"

Steve pulled Tony's smaller frame to his much bigger one and placed his hand on his waist while Tony rested his head n Steve's shoulder as they started to move along with the music.

"I love you"

He whispered into Tony's ears, it always amazed how saying those three words to the other man felt like the easiest in the world and how his heart was filled with joy every time he uttered them.

"I love you too"

Tony replied with the same ease and sweetness as the other.

The couple continued to slow dance a similar, the tighter they seem to hold each other the easier it was to temporary let go of the lingering fear of the future and get lost in the bliss of their young love as the band continued to play.

 

_**~ Love is all that I can give to you, love is more than just a game for two, two in love can make it take my heart and please don't break it Love was made for me and you, love was made for me and you, love was made for me and you ~** _


	2. the first day of Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's 14 years later and everything happens for a reason

~14 years later~

_ "Welcome campers both old and new, remember to find your luggage, so we can assign you to your cabin so we can start having the best summer ever!" _  One of the counselors yelled into the megaphone sounding overly cheery.  When the doors opened, Ben was the first one out of the bus he hated sitting still for so long, he stretched as he looked around the camp his excitement growing with every second.  Ben loved Brooklyn, but it was nice to leave it behind once in a while, especially if it meant camping, So did his dad, they would go at least twice a year.  Once at the start and end of summer, it was one of Ben's favorite traditions.  This year however things were different.  Recently his Pop has become more popular and by default more in demand, which meant he had to spend more time working on new pieces for his upcoming gallery and on top of that had to look for a better studio in the city, in short, no beginning of summer camping, at first Ben was disappointed, after all, he was looking forward to this the whole school year, but he understood and even if it wasn't his usual trip summer camp was still 10x better than being dragged all over the city by his pops or being cooped up in the apartment while his he worked plus this place looked awesome and he still had the end of summer trip to look forward too.   
  


He continued to walk around and in every direction kids where running around to find their luggage, while others reunited with friends they had made in previous years and there were a few that were just walking around aimlessly not being sure on what to do,Ben then noticed how some of the staff members were taking luggage from the bus to a giant pile of bags in the middle of the campsite, he quickly spotted his big yellow, duffle bag being tossed into the pile so he quickly ran towards it.

 _"There you are!"_  
Ben eagerly grabbed strap of his bag but before he was able to pull it out 5 heavy bags were thrown on top of his. "Oh, no"  
The 11-year-old tried to pull as hard as he could but it wouldn't be bugged, he made the mistake of letting go for a second only to end up on the ground.

  
 _"You're new, aren't you?"_  
A blond boy wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt and a smile on his face asked in a friendly manner, offering his hand to help Ben up from the ground.

_"What gave me away?"_

Ben responded still on the ground despite being embarrassed he smiled through it and took the other boy's hand.

"The fact that you didn't grab your bag before it was thrown into this mess"  
He gestured to the growing pile.  
"That's a classic rookie mistake, anyway, I'm Danny. "

" I'm Ben, would you mind helping me? I don't really want to revisit the ground. "

_"sure, which one is yours?"_

Danny walked over to Ben in order to help him.

_"It's the big yellow one that is currently buried under all of this."_

Ben made a gesture referring to the rest of the bags that was on top of his, He took the back strap and now with Danny's help they began to pull but even with there combined strength they couldn't get it out.

_"Wait, I think I know who can help us."_

Danny let go and started to scan the campsite.  
As Danny did this Ben spotted a taller than average, dark skin boy who was wearing a yellow shirt and gray hoodie walking up to a different but just as big pile and pulled out his backpack with ease.

 _"someone like him?"_  
Ben asked as he pointed at the boy in front of him.

_"No, not someone like him exactly him"_

Cupping his hands around his mouth to make a makeshift megaphone he yelled out. "Hey, Luke!"

he waved at them after hearing Danny's voice, he adjusted his backpack so it be hanging on just one of his shoulders and made his way toward them.

_"Hey man, I was looking for you "_

Luke said once he got close enough to Danny to punch him on the shoulder.

_"Sorry, got distracted and speaking of that would you mind helping?"_

The blond said pointing to Ben's bag.

_"Sure, is it this one?"_

Luke asked as he grabbed the black strap of the yellow duffle bag.

_"Yeah, It's the one_ waaaay _in the bottom, do you need any help getting it out-?"_

Before Ben could even finish Luke had managed to get his bag out without hesitation

_"Here you go...Ben... Hey, from New York?! "_

Luke said with a smile when he saw the tag with Ben's name and address as he handed him his duffle bag.

_"Yeah, I live in Brooklyn."_

_"Cool, I'm from Harlem"_

"And I'm from Manhattan!"  
Danny said with Glee.

 _"Benjamin Riley Rogers?!"_  
One of the counselors yelled out.

 _"Here!"_  
The brunet jumped in place to be better spotted.

"You're in cabin Okewood!"

 _"That us!"_  
The blond once again said it with joy as he grabbed Luke by his hoodie.

_"Oh, sweet!"_

"Right back at you"  
Luke replied by giving each boy a fist bump.  
Ben reached for the small pockets on his bag where he kept a deck of cards that his Uncle Bucky gave him and took it out.  
"So... by any chance do any of you know how to play this? "He asked as he flashed the deck to Danny and Luke.  
 _"I do,"_    
The taller boy replied with a raised eyebrow and a grin on his face.   
 _"I don't"_    
Danny replied innocently which cost the other two boys to look at each other with an amused look on their faces.  
 _"What so funny?"_  Both Ben and Luke looked at each other and tried to hold back their laughter. Luke just gave his friend a pat on the back  
 _"Don't worry about it, off topic did you bring any money with you?_ "  
they continued to make their way to the cabin they spotted a very nice black town car.  
 _"Wow, who do you think is in there?"_  
Ben asked as they continued walking

\---

 _"You know, for people who are constantly trying to keep me out of the spotlight you guys make some really questionable decisions."_    
Peter was looking out the window and noticing how his arrival had caught the attention of a few campers and even some counselors.

 _"Hey, don't look at me if anyone is to blame it's your dad and Pepper, you know how they get when it comes to your safety."_  
Happy parked the car and sent Tony a text to notify him that they made it to the camp.

_"So dad and Pepper, huh? Are you sure this wasn't your plan to spend some time with me before I left? "_

_"And delay my four-week vacation free from you? No way"_

_"So you ignoring every shortcut was something my dad made you do?_ "  
Peter replied with a laugh

 _"I have no idea what you talking about"_    
Happy started closing the divider but saw Peter's puppy dog face in the mirror, he looked away because even knowing it was fake he was a sucker for that face.  
He sighed in defeat and left in open.   
 _"I'm praying that property will take you cutes away_ "

" _Don't worry if it does I'll find another weakness"_  
Peter said proudly

 _"You evil little genius"_  Happy shot him a warm smile   
 _"Anyway, let's look at the list Pepper gave you."_

He pulled the list from his phone and started reading it in a deadpan tone.

 _"Sunscreen"_  
 _"Check!"_  
 _"Contact lenses that you own but will never wear?_  
 _And Will never wear, check"_  
 _"Deck of cards?"_  
 _"Check"_  
 _"Camera?"_  
"Check!"  
Peter said with an excited tone holding his camera close to him, his dad always joked that despite having the option of choosing any camera he wanted, he chose the one that was older than him,  
but Peter didn't care, he loved his old vintage Polaroid camera and wouldn't trade it for anything.

"Last but not least various pictures of your family that includes your dear old dad, Pepper, Jarvis, your uncle Rhodey and Bruce and of course yours truly, in case you get homesick?"

_"Check and don't worry I know you'll miss me, I heard you tell aunt pepper"_

_"What have I told you about east dropping?"_

_"Only do it to my uncle Bruce when you suspect him of stealing your yogurt?_

_"Good boy"_  Happy finally gave in and smiled at the kid. _"eh, guess I'll miss having you around, after all, you're the only one that can get your dad out of his lab when he's overdoing it."_

Happy opened the door and as soon as he did Peter jumped out of the car and gave him a giant hug.

_"Knew it"_

Happy hugged him back then kneeled down to meet the boy's brown doe eyes. " _If anything happens, just insist that they call us, despite their hippie-dippy policy, okay?"_  It was true that the camp had a policy that encourages the kids to solve their problems in a civil matter instead of calling their  
parents at the first sight of trouble unless it was absolutely necessary along with a zero technology policy.

 _"I'll be okay, don't worry"_  
Peter reassured as he adjusting his thick frame glasses.

Happy ruffled his messy long brown hair and said his goodbyes and as Peter watched him drive away he took a good look around the camp, he spotted a boy carrying a backpack that looked to be as big as him if not bigger, bunch of kids screaming and running around, counselors desperately trying to keep everything in order it looked... Fun,for a plan B camp it wasn't bad, even if part of him was still upset that his plan A didn't work, which was attending science camp alongside Ned and MJ, like he always did for the last two summers but unfortunately the final deadline for the application happened to fall on his last week of school as well as Stark Expo, normally his godmother would have signed him up with no problem but it seemed like a being in the higher up was working against them, because everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong to the leading of the Expo, from Peter getting sick, an actual fire, and even almost losing a prototype. Fortunately and by some miracle, they manage to pull it off, but that day still became historic in his house as "the day Virginia Pepper Potts forgot to do something". But even stranger was that Tony instead of using the Tony Stark card and pulling some strings to get Peter in, they decided not to go and instead enrolling him in this Camp, But it wasn't all bad because he wasn't going to be completely alone.

 _" Hey, four eyes!!!!"_  
Johnny ran towards him to give him a high-five.

 _"Hothead, always a pleasure to see you! "_  
.

 _"Glad to see that you ditch the nerd camp, Finally you do something cool"_  
Johnny and Peter met last year at Stark Expo, Jhonny was present because his brother-in-law was there to give a presentation and his sister had dragged him along but it turned out to be for the best because the two boys hit it off right away and decided to stay friends and constantly message each other.

 _"Hey, I do cool stuff all the time in fact in my other camp we built rockets, can you top that?"_  
Granted they were bottle rockets but it didn't sound as cool.

 _" suuuuree, we don't have rockets but we still have some pretty cool stuff I'll show you"_  
Johnny said as he started running towards the camp, Peter grabbed his bags and followed his friend.

\- --  
Peter had to admit that Johnny was right, sure it was no science camp but this place was pretty great, they had lots of games to welcome the new campers, the food was pretty good. But he did have a few weird encounters example:  
When he was standing in the line to get breakfast a counselor that Peter was 99% sure that they had never spoken to him before, told him to enjoy his second serving of waffles and to leave some syrup for the rest of the kids and left laughing as if it was an inside joke,to be fair he was about to grab some waffles and he did plan to drown them in syrup but the counselor didn't know that so he decided to brush it off, just like when a few kids came up to him and made weird comments about how they were going to get a rematch and how they were going to win everything back before running off. But as weird as that was, it was the last thing on his mind at this moment because Peter was having the time of his life fencing ,normally he would be the kid to get picked last for everything but against all odds he was doing pretty well, mostly because this was all very amateur and none of the kids were experts, but taking to account that Peter was one of the smallest boys there and his sight gave him a big handicap the fact that he was doing this good was basically a miracle . He guessed that his strategy of pretending that he was swinging around a lightsaber was paying off.  
Taking advantage that his opponent was distracted Peter went in and poked the other kid in the chest of the counselor grabbed his hand as he blew on his whistle and lifted his arm proclaiming him The Undefeated champion, the light-haired chaperone asked for another volunteer but nobody stepped forward.

_"Come on guys, don't give up so easily do I have any volunteers?"_

_"Me! I want to try"_

Some kid yell from all the way in the back as he made his way through the crowd Peter turned around to take off his helmet so he could get some water while his mystery opponent started suiting up, he noticed that Johnny was giving him a thumbs-up from afar, he did the same and smiled at his friend before putting his helmet back on and turning around to face the other boy.

_"Okay, I want a good clean fight, understood?"_

_"Understood"_

The two 11-year-olds said at the same time both eager to start the duel.  
The whistle blew and the mystery opponent wasted no time in attacking Peter with his sword.  
right away he could tell this wasn't going to be like the other matches, sure a lot of kids came and tried to beat him with the attack to kill technique, but this kid was fast and it looked like he actually knew what he was doing. Peter was spending all his energy deflecting all the blows he was receiving, waiting for an opportunity to show itself so he could deflect but he ended up walking backward, still trying to dodge every attacked he ended up walking up the stairs of the cabin behind him and he fell when he thought there was an extra step and that's when the mystery boy poked him on the chest, earning him a point and a cheer from the audience. Peter quickly got up and noticed that the boy had not yet climbed the stairs, he took the higher ground to launch his sword straight into the boy's chest earning him a point and cheers of his own. He and the mystery boy were tied and whoever got the next point would win the match which made things more intense, the other boy quickly made his way up the stairs, as they continued fencing on the outside of the cabin, Peter noticed that this guy was leading him into a dead end, he tried thinking quick, the hall was too narrow so he couldn't go around him or he would lose immediately, he looked up and saw the wooden ledge and somehow convinced himself to jump on it. He was very proud of himself for being able to pull that off, sure he wasn't the stereotypical wimpy nerd (he was close but not quite) but he wasn't that athletic type either, he liked rock climbing with his dad and he was in the junior gymnastic team something he got teased for a lot but he didn't care he loved it. And he love the feeling of being up on the edge, he could hear some of the kids gasping and cheering him on while the counselor was screaming out

 _"Okay!"_  
trying to make their way through to the crowd of excited children to make sure Peter and this boy didn't hurt them self. Unfortunately, his moment and his victory was short-lived because his opponent took advantage that Peter was distracted trying to think of his next move and poked his stomach with the thin sword, The poke made lose his balance andPeter ended up falling off the ledge but luckily or unlucky for him he didn't hit the ground, he hit water, right below where he had been standing there was a large wooden sink that was filled   
\- ---   
"Oh, my god are you okay?!" Ben called out and ran to the ledge to look down at the boy that he had pushed off by accident. Sure he thought he was going a little hard on him considering that he had the unfair advantage that he knew some basic fighting moves from his dad's uncles and aunt, it was nothing too extreme they were very basic moves but still not all the kids could claim that they were taught how to fight by three ex-military men and the most badass person who ever lived.  
But when he saw that this kid was fast and quick on his feet he decided not to hold back but apparently, he took it too far, when he delivered his final hit.  
"Here let me help you!"   
Ben Extended his hand to help the boy out of the water but instead of lifting him up he ended up falling himself.  
"Hey, what is wrong with you?!" Ben yelled in anger as he splashed the other boy.

> "What's wrong with me, what's wrong with you to push me in?!" The other boy replied with the same anger as he also splashed Ben.  
> "That was an accident. Plus I was trying to help you?! "  
> \- --  
> "Mine was an accident too, I slip when you gave me your hand"   
>  _"Yeah, right!"_  
>  _"It's the truth!"_  
>  _"Okay, boys that's enough"_  The light-headed counselor came up to them to help them both out.  
>  _"You both claim it was an accident so how about you take off your helmets, apologize to each other and shakes hands?"_  The two boys were hesitant for a while. With Ben curling his fingers into Fist and Peter with his hands over his chest  
> " _Boys, come on we agreed on a fair match"_  
>  _"...okay"_

_"Fine"_

The helmet came off and the second the boy's identical brown eyes meet they both let out a loud gasp and took a step back, everybody else was frozen but they were still whispering.  
" they're identical" or "wait, so their twins?"  
but neither Peter or Ben couldn't bring themselves to care about all that, they were still locked in eye contact. Peter lifted up his hand and so did Ben giving a wave to each other, it was almost like looking in the in mirror with a very few minor differences: the first one being their outfits Peter was wearing a white suit with a green chest while Ben's was all white, Peter's hair was long and floppy and Ben had short hair almost a buzz cut and finally Peter's cheeks were slightly chubbier than from Ben's but not by much.  
Even with those few differences, the boys were completely identical to the point where they were even wearing the same expression of shock with their eyes completely widen and their mouth slightly opened.  
"Okay, kids there's nothing to see here! We have more activities to attend to so Peter...I'm sorry Ben apologize and Ben... I'm sorry Peter, I am so sorry, you do the same so the two of you can dry off, alright?"  
He clapped his hands and look down at the clipboard where the boys have to sign their names to double-check that they didn't have the same last name but it wasn't even close, Peter had singed as Peter.S Parker and Ben as Benjamin Reilly Rogers. 

_"...I'm sorry"_

They both sat at the same time which causes them to freak out, even more, there was silence between the two until finally Peter slowly lifted up his arm and extended it to Ben, it took a few seconds but eventually Ben did the same. As they touched hands they didn't discover the secrets of the universe or even felt a static shock go through their bodies but it still felt weird shaking hands. Johnny slowly made his way up to Peter to hand him the case that contained his glasses, Peter put them on and gave Ben a double look hoping that maybe his blurry vision was playing a game with him but as he locked eyes with him again it was confirmed this kid was his clone with shorter hair.

 _"...I guess I'll see you around?"_  
Peter said in an awkward voice before taking Johnny's hand who was still shocked and ran the opposite direction as fast as he could.

Ben stood there still flabbergasted. He made his way to Luke and Danny who were the only ones left from the crowd that was witnessing the fencing duel when he approached them he was quiet for a bit and looked at them and said in a soft voice.  
"...so...do you guys want to get something to drink....or?"


	3. This is war!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their awkward first meeting, and intense poker game and a series of misunderstanding Peter and been found themselves in the middle of a prank war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning I kind of lost my beta reader when I wrote this chapter so I apologize for the horrible grammar and misspelling, I'm fixing it but still if had I apologize

"It's not that crazy, okay, because if you think about it the probabilities of two people looking alike are high, I mean there are only so many faces in the world, some people are bound to look alike".

Peter had spent the better part of the day walking in circles inside of the cabin trying to explain why

this wasn't weird, it wasn't working.

"Yeah, but to look alike is one thing, you two could switch places if you wanted too".

Johnny pointed out, he was spread out on his top bunk with his lower body on the bed and his top half hanging from it.

" Were they really that alike?"

Miles asked, he was one of the other boys sharing the cabin with them, he was the youngest but still became quick friends with everybody, he also wasn't there to witness the duel between Peter and Ben.

"Yeah, it was super freaky".

Johnny sat up and switch positions now sitting on the bed with his legs hanging on the edge."Are you sure your dad didn't clone you or something?"

"Or maybe you have a secret twin or better yet maybe he's you from a different universe but a freak an accident happened and he ended up in this universe?!" Miles responded with his own theories.

 

"Or maybe it's like a prince and the pauper situation, where he's just someone who looks exactly like you, what? don't give me that face I like Disney"

"Is Peter the pauper or the prince?" Miles asked

"Does it matter?!" Peter asked while he continued to pace around the room.

"It doesn't, but for obvious reasons, Peter is the Prince".

Peter stopped to give Johnny a quick look before waving his hands in front of the two. "Okay first of all my dad wouldn't clone me...okay he wouldn't clone me and not tell me about it"

"What if it wasn't your dad?"

"He. isn't. my clone, stop, with the crazy theories! Although I have to admit I like the alternate universe one that'd be cool but still stop it you're making this a bigger deal than it is"

"If it isn't a big deal why did you skip canoeing yesterday?"Johnny question

"For the last time I wasn't avoiding him, I just didn't go because I had a cough for staying in wet clothing too long"

"Didn't you eat like 5 popsicles that same day?"

"You're not helping, Miles!"

The thought of food made Peter's stomach grumble, it was almost dinner time which gave Peter an idea.

 

"Look, if it gets you guys off my back I'll prove that it isn't a big deal hen we head off to the mess hall, I'll say hi to him, I'll even talk to him."

"Yeah, that'll show us"

Johnny rolled his eyes at his friend not impressed by his offer "But fine" He jumped off the bed and onto the floor. "I'll take it, let's go"

 

"Wait, you mean right now, but dinner is not for another 30 minutes?"

Peter protested.

 

"So what? we'll just get there earlier or are you afraid that you'll bump into him?"

 

"No, I'm not, Come on guys let's go!"

Peter grabbed his backpack from his bed and headed for the door. He might not like the idea of

running into Ben but he also didn't like the idea of proving Johnny right

 

"Can I get a reminder of how I got wrapped into this?"

Miles asked out loud as Peter open the cabin door and waited for his two friends to exit.

\---

"Hey, look it's your mystery twin"

Luke notched Ben with his elbow as he saw Peter and his friends approaching them.

He, Ben and Danny were all sitting on the floor outside the mess hall along with a few kids, they

were playing poker, Ben had a pile of goodies next to him that he had won from the other kids, it

ranged from Candy, potato chips, pocket change, and a few headbands and bracelets.

 

"I told you not to call him that!"

Ben whispered as he continued to deal the cards, unfortunately, the arrival of Peter cause everybody who was sitting there to turn to him.

 

"Hey don't blame me blame Danny he's the one that made the nickname stick"

Ben gave him a small glare that indicated he didn't care who started it, he just cared who ended it, he

turned his back to the other kids in hopes that he would get the attention away from Peter.

 

"Okay, guys, who's next?"

He asked as he shuffled the cards around.

 

" No thanks, I'm out"

The kid who had recently lost stood up and shrugged in defeat.

"I'm out, the only thing I have left is the headband I'm wearing and I'm not betting that"

Said one of the girls who was standing there.

"...Hi"

Peter spoke up after standing there for a few seconds in silence.

Luke and Danny along with the rest of the campers looked up at him then back at Ben.

"Um...hi"

Ben said awkwardly

"Do you want to play?"

Ben offered mostly to be nice but Peter's presence made him tense up. He didn't know how to feel around him and the fact that when the two of them were together, they always caused a scene only

made him feel even more uncomfortable. He tried to ignore it and focus on the game.

"So, do you know how to play or do you want to have a practice round first?"

"I know how to play, I'm pretty good at it and judging by that giant pile next to you I'm guessing

“You're good at it too"

That made Ben laughed and it also served to make the atmosphere much less awkward.

"I'm decent, so if you're good and I'm good how about we make this interesting?"

Ben asked as he grabbed one of the potato chip bags and put it in the middle of them.

 

" Sounds fun"

Peter quickly grabbed his backpack and took out a packet of Oreos and placed it next to the chips.

 

"Why did you bring your snack bag to dinner?"

Miles asked

 

" it's Peter logic, trust me it's better not to question it"

Johnny responded with a sigh.

 

Peter just ignored them as he picked up his card and bit the inside of his cheek as he studied them.

Ben looked at him with a raised eyebrow and wondered if this was his tale.

-

The poker match was almost as intense as the fencing duel, the crowd around them had grown even larger just like the pile of snack and coins between them had grown.

Best of all the two boys were finally relaxing even making jokes and having a small conversation as the game went on.

"It's almost dinner time"

Ben spoke up.

 

"Is that, you admitting defeat?"

Peter teased

"Not a chance "

" But I think your right and we should wrap this up but we should do it with style"

Peter suggested as he channeled a bit of his dad in an effort to sound cool

"How do we do that?"

Ben asked looking very intrigued.

Peter grabbed his backpack and emptied what was left in the pile.

 

"Also what if we put these back in the deck and we grabbed new ones?"

Peter suggested as he waved the cards in his hand.

 

"Going all in and blind sounds fun!"

Ben grabbed what was left of his previous winnings and put them into the pile, as he did Peter took

off his glasses so he could clean them but given what they were doing it gave the wrong impression.

 

"Oh my god, dude are you betting your glasses?!"

Johnny asked in shock.

"No!"

Peter responded with the intention of correcting him

"Afraid your gonna lose?"

Ben teased

"I'm not betting my glasses!"

That respond caused the other kids to complain and start challenging Peter to actually bet them, and maybe it was the fact that he was secretly really competitive or just plain peer pressure or both

that caused him to say what he did.

"Not betting my glasses but how about this, whoever loses has to jump into the lake later tonight?"

Ben handed peter five cards.

"How about whoever loses has to jump into the lake at night... Naked"

Ben added it turns out he also had a very competitive side

"Deal!"

They both grab their cards and looked at them and the second Ben laid eyes on them, he didn't care

about keeping His poker face.

"You should have stuck to betting just your snack bag because..."

He showed off his hand

"I have a full house"

The rest of the kids started teasing peter but he didn't have a reaction.

" You're right that would definitely make you the winner, except that, may I present with grate

honor, a royal flush"

Peter said showing off his perfect hand.

"Hope you like swimming"

Luke gave Ben a sympathetic shoulder pat as the rest of the campers started mocking him as Peter

started packing up his winnings.

-

After the campfire, everybody who was present for the poker game sneaked out of their cabins and

headed straight for the deck for the big event, everyone except for Luke and Danny who had been caught outside their cabin by one of the counselors when they tried to sneak off and were forced to

stay behind so they wouldn't raise any suspicion

"You know, you can back out if you want"

Peter offered Ben as he put his folded up close in the edge of the deck, he was still wearing a towel

around his waist but he knew he would have to leave it behind soon

"Nope, this was my idea and I lost, I'm going through with it"

He said with confidence, the way he saw it just because this was humiliating it didn't mean, he couldn't do this with dignity.

Peter simply nodded and went to join the handful of kids who have had shown up.

Ben took a deep breath dropping his towel and started walking towards the lake, he could hear how

the others were giggling in whistling at him, someone even shouted out

 

"Nice, birthmark Rogers!"

When he approached the edge he tried not to think about it too much, only stopping to pinch his nose

and closing his eyes before jumping, he hoped if he did it fast enough it would make it easier but the

second, he hit the water it felt like being inside of an ice cube, it was so cold that it stung his skin but

he powered through it, going as deep as he could.

What Ben didn't know was that right as he hit the water a flashlight could be seen from afar.

 

"Someone is coming!"

One of the boys said in a very loud whisper.

That whisper was all it took for everybody to start running in different directions and with all the commotion that was going on Peter got caught in the Stampede of children forced to run ,but the worst part was that someone accidentally kicked Ben's clothes into the lake without anybody noticing not even himself, he started to swim up to the shore only to see the approaching flashlight,he quickly jumped back into the water and hid under the deck not wanting to get caught. When he

finally managed to get out he was shaking like a leaf, he desperately looked around for his clothing only to realize that they were nowhere to be found fortunately he managed to find his towel, he

grabbed it and wrapped it around his body as rage started to fill up inside of him.

-

"Did he really ditched you in the lake without any clothes?"

Danny asked in disbelief after hearing Ben's story. last night when Ben finally managed to reach their cabin with nothing but a towel he didn't really bother waking up his friends to tell them what happened, all he cared about was not dying from hyperthermia and getting into warm dry clothing, he waited until the next day after the morning checkup to fill them in on what had happened.

 

"Sweet Christmas, that's cold. I'm sorry we weren't there to help"

Luke was leaning against the bunk bed with his arms crossed as he listened to the story.

 

"More like freezing and don't worry about it, you know what maybe I should tell one of the staff

members I mean who does this kid think he is?"

Ben said getting a little worked up.

 

"Probably a rich kid who thinks the rules don't apply to him"

Luke said in a huff

 

"what do you mean rich?"

Ben asked looking a little confused.

 

"Remember that black car we saw when we first arrived?"

 

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean--"

 

"That's where I knew him from!"

Danny stood up from his bed as he had his revelation.

But his friends just looked at him with very confused faces.

 

"Long story short my dad forced me to go to this really boring Gala and I sat next to him, we didn't really talk I just remember him because nobody was bothering him not even the paparazzi, which is

super weird because normally they're really annoying"

Ben nodded his head as he processed this new information.

 

"Okay, okay, new plan, all the counselors are going to be at the staff meeting today after breakfast, right?"

 

"Yeah....where are you going with this Rogers?"

Luke asked sounding intrigued.

 

"You'll see"

Ben responded with mischief in his smile.

-

Most of the staff members were in the meeting leaving just the volunteer counselors, a.k.a all high school and college kids who volunteered to be here in charge of keeping the kids busy with various

activities after breakfast.

"Man, I'm so tired I just want to lay down"

Peter Johnny and Miles were heading back to the cabin, somehow Peter had convinced Johnny to

give him a piggyback on the way back while Miles was throwing the basketball he had in his hands up onto the air and catching it.

None of them knew what happened after they were forced to run last night and definitely had absolutely no idea on what was waiting for them.

Miles let the basketball fall to the ground when he spotted what had happened to their cabin

"Um...Pete, that ain't happening "

Johnny looked up to see what his friend was talking about and when he laid eyes on their cabin he froze nearly dropping Peter.

"How!!!"

Peter screamed as he got off Johnny's back.

Somehow three little boys had managed to put their bunk beds and luggage on the roof including placing Peters black spider plushie on the flagpole.

-

After a long discussion whether they should inform a counselor about this or not and a series of pulley

systems they finally managed to get everything down from the roof and into the cabin.

" I can't believe we pull that off without anybody noticing, is it just me or are we left unsupervised a lot?"

Peter just threw his plushie on his bed along with his suitcase and collapsed on the ground.

"How did they even do that, do one of them have super strength or something, who the hell even did

it!"

" isn't it obvious, think about it four eyes, who wasn't there for breakfast, who did you make jump in the river naked?!"

Jhonny pointed out as he collapsed next to Peter due to exhaustion.

" Ben!, seriously what the hell is wrong with him, he was the one who suggested jumping naked, not my fault he is a sore loser"

Peter punch the floor but still didn't have enough energy to get up from it.

"see, this is why I think we should tell someone"

Miles said with zero energy but still being the only one that made it to a bed.

" No, we're not, we're getting payback, " Peter said determined, he tried getting up from the ground but immediately went back down.

"Right after we take a million-year nap, ouch "

\--

That night the boys skipped dinner by faking a stomach ache.

They put pillows under the blankets and broke into the kitchen and the arts and craft closet to get supplies for their master plan

\--

That morning when Ben woke to the sight of multicolored string hanging from the bunk beds and ceilings that resembled a spider web, he went back to sleep thinking that he was still dreaming but it didn't take long for reality to sink in.

He sat up from his bed which made five rubber black spiders fall on his head, he screamed from the top of his lungs that had the result of waking up the rest of the boys in the cabin.

"The hell is this!"

"Gross, what is this!"

Luke and Danny screamed from their bunk bed, that had been covered with glitter glue and colorful feathers.

Ben tried to get out of bed but he got caught in the string and ended up falling on the floor that was

covered in syrup, he looked up just as a water balloon was coming right at him he managed to roll away before it hit him.

"Hah!"

He said feeling cocky and proud of himself that he managed to dodged it but seconds later a much bigger balloon fell on him.

"That freaking boy is the most insane, Despicable two-faced person I have ever met in my life"

\--

" He's really bad at cursing I'm surprised he didn't call you a stupid face".

Johnny said laughing

 

"I know right!"

Miles replied

 

"How am I a two-face?"

 

The three boys were watching everything unfold from a window that was located in the back of the cabin.

"Morning boys"

A brunette woman greeted them as she spoke through a megaphone.

" Morning, Maria".

the boys said in unison before Panic struck all three of them.

" Oh, no".

Peter's mind raced to try to think of a way out of this mess.

"surprised Morning inspection, kiddos, get ready!".

She yelled in the megaphone and head towards the oakwood cabin.

 

" No, wait "

Peter singled to Johnny and miles to stay hidden as he ran to stopped her from going in which earned

him a look from the counselor.

" I'm sorry... It's just you can't go in there because, because... One of the kids is sick! And it's a mess you don't want to go in there there's puke everywhere and it's sticky things and just really you shouldn't go in there"

Peter was clearly panicking.

 

"Well if one of the kids is sick with more reason I have to get in there ".

she reached for the door but Peter got in the way before she could open it because he knew the second that this door was open it would activate the final booby trap.

 

"Actually we all feel fine".

Ben said from the other side of the door.

" There's no reason for you not to come in, right Peter?"

Peter stayed quiet he was about to say something but Maria got passed him and when she stepped

inside a bucket of syrup fell on top of the counselor and before a scream even left her mouth the fan had turned on making white feathers fall like snowflakes.

\---

After that both Peter and Ben confessed but they didn't rat out any of their friends. They were forced to clean the cabin and the next day they were escorted by the Camp's director and Maria to a small cabin, it was isolated but it wasn't too far that it would be a safety hazard. Even though it was smaller it had much more room seeing that the only piece of furniture were two twin beds, two desk on each side of the room and curtains that were hanging on the windows. "Now the two of you are going to be spending the next week in this cabin learning how to act civilized, you will be checked on daily and you will also have a separate table in the mess hall, and if we don't see Improvements in your behavior then we're going to call your parents and the two of you will get sent home early, do you boys understand?"The director said in a Stern voice

 

" Yes".

The boys replied with their heads hanging low.

the first day they weren't allowed to go on the regular activities with the rest of the campers so they

spent all day unpacking and shooting hateful glares at one another while not exchanging a word, the night wasn't any better. Peter was reading on his bed before they were forced to turn off the lights but

Ben had decided to go to bed early so he turned off the lights without a warning,considering the Peter was under the assumption that he was a sore loser, who threw a tantrum every time things didn't go his way, this only made him angrier at the other boy so he placed his hand on the light switch that was on his side of the room and turned the lights back on. This action also didn't do

anything to change the idea that Ben had about Peter, that he was just a spoiled little rich kid who thought the world revolved around him so once again he turned off the light ,this cycle continued until the light bulb finally overheated, as the room fell into darkness Peter let himself full onto his mattress and murmured in a frustrated voice.

"I should have gone to Science Camp"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know if these boys to take a second to sit down and talk to each other they would have avoided this whole mess, huh I wonder where they get that from?


	4. Two halfs of a broken heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One fateful summer day as rain poured outside of their cabin Ben and Peter discover that their two broken families fitted perfectly together and they decide that they had been apart for far too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here the thing I accidentally deleted this chapter but at the bright side I could edit and make less you know god awful and it adds more information about the boy's family three and how they were adopted but I do plan on going into that in future chapters, yes there is going to be new chapters I promise I'm just turtle when it comes to this things,  
> also, the first time I wrote this I wanted to see if I could fit aunt may into this but then I thought that if she was in this story she wouldn't have allowed any of this to happen.

 

Ben was sitting next to the window drawing random things on it using the fog, while Peter was sitting in his side of the cabin reading on his desk one of the comics he had brought with him.  
Inside the isolation cabin, the only sounds were heavy raindrops falling on the rooftop along with the echoes of children screaming as they tried to escape from the storm. In a blink of an eye the silence was broken when one of the windows suddenly burst opened ,the violent noise was nerve shaking , the wind was so strong and unexpected that it knocked the comic out of Peter's hand along with the tin container that had all of the pictures that he had brought with him to the ground.

Peter quickly got up to try to close the window but it was stuck, Ben soon came to his aid and with their combined strength they managed to close it, Peter kneel down on the ground and started picking up all of the pictures as fast of he could with Ben quickly joining him.

"Here".  
Ben handed him a stack of photos.

" Thanks".  
Peter took them and put them in their places.

"...Did any of them get ruined?"  
Been asked in a sheepish voice.

"No... well except for Luke Skywalker, the water got his face, but if he can handle losing a hand he can handle this".  
He picked up his comic book to show the other boy the damage it had suffered, the book, in this case, was a graphic novel adaptation of a new hope.

"That's Star Wars, right? you know I never actually seen any of the movies".

Peter looked at him as if he had grown a third arm on his head  
"Really, not even the new ones?!"

Ben only shrugged  
"Aren't the first ones really, really, old movies?" He questioned as he started getting up from the floor.

"Yeah but they're also really fun...Anyway, thanks for helping me..."  
Peter said with a small smile as he finished getting everything back to its place.

"Your welcome".  
Ben replied as he sat back in his spot shivering.

" Hey...you want a cookie?"  
He offered as he opened the wooden trunk that was on the feet of his bed and pulled out a packet of Oreos.

"Yeah, thanks I love those! Especially with peanut butter".

Peter didn't break eye contact with Ben as he slowly pulled out a jar of peanut butter.

"Me too".  
He said in a loud whisper.

"Finally someone who understands! You should see how my pop's and uncles look at me when I eat them you would think I was eating a bug or something".

"Well, in that case, Hakuna Matata"

He laughed at the reference and got up from his spot, that's when he noticed a picture on the ground they must have missed. He picked it up getting a good look at it before giving it back. In the picture a younger version of Peter was on a beach alongside a woman,she had long ginger-hair who was wearing a huge pair of sunglasses,the woman was smiling,her focus was on Peter instead of the camera, next to her was a heavier man with raven hair,who had his hand around the woman's waist and a big smile on his face.

"here you missed one"  
He stretched out his arm so Peter could take the photo.

"Are they your parents? "  
Peter tilted his head being confused by the question. He was in the middle of opening the jar so he had to put it aside, he licked the peanut butter off his fingertips then cleaned his hand on his shirt so he wouldn't get the picture dirty

"No, but Pepper is my godmother and that's her husband, Happy is cool but he's not my dad."  
Peter explained as he took the picture from him and placed it with the others, he paused before picking up another picture. He hesitated for a bit but he decided to show it to Ben.

"This is my dad".   
The picture was a little blurry, the first thing that caught his attention wasn't Peter's dad it was the robotic arm wearing a Dunes hat but once he looked passed it, he could see a man in the background,it was hard to make out what he looked like because of the quality of the picture and also the safety goggles he was wearing obscured his face but you could still tell he had dark hair and it looked like he was tinkering with something.

"He didn't know I was taking the picture".  
Peter said with a shrug

"Is that a robot hand and why is he wearing that hat?"  
Ben asked, as he grabbed a spoon full of peanut butter and spread it out on top of an Oreo before taking a bite of it.

"He knows what he did."  
Peter repeated the same words that his father had told him when he had asked that very same question.

That made him laugh, apparently Peter was good at that, He paused and looked down at his cookie as silence filled the room again.

"Hey...I'm sorry about the roof."  
Ben said feeling ashamed of what he had done.

"I'm sorry too but it's okay, after all, I turned your cabin into a sticky spider web, I think we're even."  
Peter said as he opened an Oreo and put peanut butter on top of the white cream filling

"so truce?"  
Ben lifted his cookie as if he was making a toast with it, extending the olive branch to Peter

"I couldn't hate someone who hates Oreos with peanut butter."  
Peter said lifting his own cookie and tapped it against Ben's as if they were champagne glasses.

"So your dad works with robots or something?"  
Ben asked as he took another bite.

" Um...something like that".  
Peter was being vague he didn't want to reveal too much about his dad, it's not that he didn't trust Ben he just didn't like how people treated him differently when they found that the "S" in his name stood for Stark.

"What about you, what do your parents do?"  
Peter change the subject by putting the spotlight on Ben.

"Well, I only have the dad and my Pops used to be in the Army but now he's an artist, he has a studio and everything it's really cool."  
Ben said with pride for his dad.

"Are your parents divorced?"  
Peter asked as he took a big bite of his cookie.

"Yes and no, my family is kinda weird and a bit complicated but I wouldn't trade it for the world".

Peter made a noise and clapped his hands before swallowing his oreo.  
"I know what you mean! I love my family but whenever I try to explain my family tree is a pain."  
Peter said as he cleaned the crumbs from his face.

"I doubt is as weird as mine."  
Ben said as he leaned against the wall to make himself more comfortable.

"Try me."  
He replied almost daring Ben but still maintaining a friendly tone with him.

Ben would normally never tell anybody about this especially a complete stranger but there was something about Peter that made him trust him, despite everything that had happened, so he let his guard down.  
"Well for starters, I have two uncles and an aunt but they're not biologically related to my dad, in fact, I'm not related to anybody in my family."

" You're adopted? That's not that weird."  
Peter said shoving the last of his Oreo into his mouth before taking another one.

"I haven't gotten to the weird part, for one I know a lot about my biological parents, my dad never kept that secret from me...well except for their last names but I know their first names, I also know that they were scientist and that my first last name came from an aunt I had, who according to my dad loved me more than the universe itself but who sadly passed away. I know it's messy, but I'm not done, another weird thing is that it wasn't always me and my pops, he used to be married to my other dad, but he left when I was really little, all I know about him is that he used to sing me these lullabies and play piano".   
Ben played with his food for a bit before he continued   
"But those memories are super blurry and whenever I ask my dad about him he just says he loved me but he had to leave, that he'll tell me more about him when I'm older, you know the classic grown-up response".

As he said this the memory of last year summer came to mind, that night his pops' had left his tablet on the kitchen counter and Ben had managed to sneak it into his room to watch a few videos past bedtime, he was sneaking out of his bedroom to put the tablet where he had found it, when he overheard a conversation that his Pops and Bucky were having in the living room, that day he had been asking an unusual amount of questions about his other dad and the result of that was his dad was panicking saying how everything was his fault while his godfather was comforting, Ben had never seen his dad so sad as he did now, he decided to go into his room before either of them spotted him and to never ask question about his dad,he didn't want to make his dad cry.

"But I don't really ask my pop's about him but I do have a picture," Ben said with a beaming smile   
"My dad caught me staring at it way too many times, so he decided to just give it to me, I know...It's super silly but I always have it with me".

Peter had stopped eating and was unusually quiet as he listened to Ben

"See, told you?"

Ben said as he looked outside and noticed the storm was gone.  
"Hey, it stopped raining, do you want to go get something to drink in the mess hall?"  
Ben got up and started walking to the door, Peter didn't get up he just followed him with his eyes.

"come on for once I want snacks, you can even tell me your story on the way there"

Peter didn't say anything he quietly got up from the floor without breaking eye contact with Ben  
"Peter,you're freaking me out here."

"Ben, is your birthday by any chance Tober 18th?"

"...yeah why?"

" and was the name of your Aunt who passed away May?"

"How did you--"

" Ben, that story you told me, that's my story, I was adopted, I even had an aunt who loved me more than the universe!" he put his hand on his head and took a deep breath

" happen to your parents with exactly what happened to mine, my dad told me I had another dad and that he had to leave when I was a baby, I don't remember much about him, all I have from him are a couple sketches he left for me and...an old photo of him."  
He said with a shaky voice before running over to where he had left the metal container with all his photos and started to look through them.

  
"Okay that's crazy it can't be the same, can it?! plus your picture is probably a whole picture mine is just this wrinkly old photo that is ripped-"

"Ripped down the middle?"  
Peter interrupted as he held the picture close to his chest  
"I had this since I was nine and found it on my dad's desk and it's ripped...right down the middle".

  
it was now Ben's turn to look at Peter in shock before running over to the wooden trunk and getting out an old book, he flipped through the pages until he found the picture of his dad.

Peter started walking towards the other boy while Ben was trying to keep calm by telling himself that this can't be happening, yes Peter was identical to him, yes the stories were very similar but he didn't want to believe it is that his dad lied to him all of his life.

"This is so freaky".

Ben was shaking holding while holding the picture close to his chest just like Peter was as he started walking towards him.

  
"I have goosebumps right now... Let's do this on the count of three, okay?".   
Peter suggested and Ben nodded in agreement.

"1, 2...3!"  
They said at the same time as they revealed their two half that when they were brought together they would form an image of two young men, one with dark black hair another with light blond, the two of them were lovingly staring into each other's eyes, as if they were the only two people in the whole world.

The two boys gasped as they brought the two half closer together

"That's my dad!".  
Peter yelled in excitement as tears started to flood his eyes

"And that's my pops!"  
Ben said with a giant grin on his face as he also held back his tears.

"And if you were born on October 18th and I was born on October 18th that means we're, like brothers"  
He had stopped fighting and just let the tears roll down his cheeks as his smile got even wider.

"We're like twins, Benny"  
Peter sniffling but still wearing a giant smile that matched Ben's

"I always wanted one of those."  
Ben said putting down the picture and pulling his long-lost twin for a long hug.

\---

That night, the two boys had stripped the sheets and mattress off their beds and build a fort.

" Hey, Peter, what's dad like?"  
Ben asked in a small voice as they were fixing the picture with tape.

"A lot of people think he's a jerk and make jokes that he doesn't have a heart but that is not true not even a little bit."  
Peter looked up to face Ben.  
"Dad is one of the funniest, smart, caring and loving person you'll ever meet, yeah sometimes he can't make it to stuff because he's super busy but he's always making it up to me by spending an entire day with me and telling me how proud of me he is of me, he tells me that a lot, he also keeps the paparazzi away from me because he says he wants me to have a taste of a normal childhood and he always says goodnight to me, it doesn't matter if he is miles away he always says good night."  
Peter said with a warm smile as he talked about his dad.

"Does he still play the piano?"  
Peter's smile faded when Ben asked that, how hard you tried it was a memory that would always stick with him,it was his birthday and dad was taking too long to come to say goodnight so he decided to get up and look for him, what he that is when he saw dad sitting on the Piano,he never really played it or looked at it and tonight was not the exception, there was no music just his dad looking at the keys with the most heartbreaking look in his eyes. His dad had told him that he was fine but even at a young age, Peter knew he was lying.

"No, he doesn't...what about Pop's what is he like?"  
Ben looked down at the photo focusing on the younger version of his dad.

"He is...incredible, he's so sweet and kind and stands up for others, and makes me breakfast every day and he's...well at least I thought he was honest...Why do you think they lied to us?" the boy asked sounding disillusioned as he let himself fall to the ground.

"I don't know."  
Peter grabbed his spider plushie and held it tight.

Ben picked the picture.  
"Whatever happened had to be really bad, just running away like that it doesn't seem like my Pop's."

Peter laid down and held his stuffed animal over his head  
"That doesn't sound like my dad either"

"We should ask them, like go up to them and say, hey dads why didn't you tell us you adopted twins and then bailed?."  
Ben said as he put the picture away and turned off the lights.

Peter sprang up from the ground and started shaking Ben.  
" You are a genius, Ben!"

Ben got up and pushed Peter away.  
"I am?"

" You are and we are going to comfort our parents and find out what happened!"  
Peter said as he grabbed Ben by the shoulders again.

"Like telling them that we know the truth?".

" No! Think about it are dads spent all this time and energy keeping us apart I mean just look at our last names for crying out loud, so we should make it hard for them too!".

Peter said with determination clear in his voice

"Your absolutely right, but how do you suggest we do that?"

Peter took off his glasses and put them on Ben.  
"We trade places!".

Ben's jaw dropped  
" That's crazy!"

"Crazy enough to work and we're twins, after all, I really want to meet Pop's, come on Ben, all or nothing!"

Ben looked at the ground as he thought it over.  
"I do want to meet dad..." he looked up at Peter with a smile on his face and a determined look in his eyes   
"I'm all in! But if we're going to do this we're gonna do it right"

Peter was basically bouncing in place before attacking his twin with a hug  
" Also peter?"

"Yeah?"

"You have horrible eyesight... my head hurts right now".

" I know "

" like you should really see an eye doctor"

"How do you think I got those?"

\--

Been finished putting up the drawings of his family he had made, they weren't god awful but they were really sketchy and they were drawn with crayon, also half them didn't even have noses but it was all they had to work with, seeing that he didn't have as many pictures as Peter did, he only had to the old picture of his dad and another one they took on his birthday and his pops wasn't even in it because he was the one taking the picture.

" And this is why I like Polaroids"  
Peter pointed out. The two of them were building a board to keep track of all the members of their family and the facts they have to remember if they were going to make this work.

"Yeah, I know because you already said that like a million times already," Ben said sounding a bit annoyed but couldn't really stay mad at Peter

"Okay, the first thing you have to know is that my Pop's, has a beard now that's why I drew him with one second of all he wakes up early every day, it doesn't matter if it's the weekend or summer vacation, he has a morning routine and he always follows. he goes running in the morning comes back showers and then starts making breakfast "  
Ben pointed at them and drawing of his dad as he explained this to Peter   
"know, listen up because this heart is very important, when comes back from jogging you have to be up if you're not he's going to think your sick, so you need to be up "

"And what time is that?"  
Peter asked as he pushed back his glasses.

"Normally around 7:30 or 8 a.m"

Peter lean forward in shock

"What, he know it's summer, right?"

Ben rolled his eyes at him.

"What did I just say?!, also like I said Uncle Bucky along with his husband, uncle sam, are over at the apartment almost every day "   
He pointed at the drawing of Sam and Bucky that were connected to each other by a red string indicating that they were married and their two drawings were connected to Steve's with blue strings and the indicating friendship but Bucky's also had a green sting that meant family.

"Also if you don't get that much information for my Pops you can always ask Bucky, they've known each other since they were our age, if anybody else knows what happened it's him"   
Ben's face went serious.  
" And last but not least there's my aunt Natasha or Tasha, she is dangerous because she can always tell when something is off and if you think you can read her emotions, you're wrong, trust me that's how Bucky lost an arm to her".

Peter's eyes widen at the last part.  
"An arm?!"  
Peter asked in utter shock

" Yeah, they were playing poker and Buck bet his prosthetic arm and he lost it to her, she did give it back... Eventually"   
He smiled at the drawing of his aunt going back to his much more playful tone.

"Also when my dad is working on his drawings I like to sit next to him to him, you should definitely do that but be beware of the dad jokes...there is so many "

Peter nodded before getting fro his seat with a jump.

"Okay, Dippy, this is what you have to know my house is pretty big but for now we'll just focus on my room, the lab, and the garage".  
Peter pointed to a picture of his house and the diagram he drew of it

"Wait does that make you Mabble?"

"Yes, now It's only me, dad, Jarvis, Pepper and Happy not just because they work for us but as you can see because they're all his family ".

He pointed to the picture of his dad and Jarvis that were connected with a green string   
"My uncle Bruce sometimes lives with us but right now he's off in another country doing some research so you don't have to worry about him"   
He said pointing to Bruce's picture

"So I'll skip him, now Jarvis is basically our grandpa but you have to be careful because if he or Pepper figure out our plan then it's game over. Now my dad is always up, he doesn't really have a morning routine but if he isn't working in the lab then he'll sleep"

"That doesn't sound healthy"

"You sound like pepper!"   
He said with a smile   
"Also we normally order in food "   
Peter looked at Ben dead in the eyes   
"Know you listen carefully, my dad cannot cook, I'm serious if he offers to cook for you say no, he's just trying to be nice but I repeat do not let him cook, trust me I am doing you a favor... nicknames he loves giving nicknames"   
He said with a bright smile   
"It's also when my dad goes down to the lab you go with him, he won't ask you to accompany him but I always and we both love it if you don't he is going to think you're mad but trust me is super cool because he normally ditches his work and does cool experiments with me, also just because he looks like he's not paying attention to you he absolutely is, so be careful what you say when you think he's distracted and last but definitely not least there is uncle Rhodey, doesn't live with us or anything but he visit us as much as he can and he's known my dad since college so he might also know something so ask him if you can't get anything out of my dad, also Happy and I are forever stuck in a war of snarky comebacks so don't make me look bad.

"I'll do my best".

Ben said with a shrug

"I've to herd your comebacks I need you to be better"

Ben rolled his eyes at him as he looked at the board and notice something crucial.

" Pete, did our dad ever try to remarry?"

Peter stepped back to admire their work as he thought about what Ben had asked him, he pressed his lips together before answering.

" No,he has dated a looooooooot of people but none of them were serious ,I've only met two people out of the billion he dated , they were both cool, one was this weird doctor and another one was is really fun guy who listened to old music but they didn't stick around for too long, what about pops did he ever try to marry someone else?"

Ben was quiet as he tried to remember if his dad ever dated someone.

" no, there was this blond Lady I think she was a nurse but she didn't stick around either, but the reason I asked was that I know that the mission is to confront our parents and figure out what happened but what if we add getting back together to the list? think about it It's been over 10 years and they haven't married someone else there's has to be a reason for that"  
Ben suggested sounding hopeful that Peter would say yes

Peter looked at Ben then quickly wrote something down.  
" I think you're an evil genius and that we're definitely adding it to the mission".  
Peter took what he wrote something then pinned it on the board under their parents picture it was a note that said:  
'HOW TO FIX?' in bright red and all caps

-

"Are you ready?"

Ben asked his brother as he lifted the scissors that they manage to sneak in the, it was their last day at the isolation cabin and this was their last chance to do this before they had to rejoin every other camper into the schedule so they wouldn't have that much free time anymore. They were in the bathroom so the clean up would be easy and they would be close to a mirror so Ben wouldn't have to do this blind.

"Just do it!"

Peter said basically shaking in his seat.

"Stop shaking then!".

Ben yelled being just as nervous as Peter who had shut his eyes so hard that his face was wrinkled

" I'm trying!"

Ben brought the scissors closer to Peter's head and closed his eyes before he made the first snip he closes eyes.

"Don't close your eyes!"

Peter yelled when he notices what the other boy was doing.

"I'm sorry, I'm nervous!"

" You're nervous, an eleven-year-old with a shaky hand and closed eyes is cutting my hair, how do you think I feel?!"

For a moment Ben thought about maybe letting Peter's hair as it was and spare them both this torture but he looked at his buzz cut and compared to Peter's floppy long brown hair, he had to cut it, his hair grew fast it wouldn't have grown that much over a month and his dad would definitely notice the difference.

" I'm sorry! I'll keep them open just calm down".

Peter nodded and now instead of shaking he was basically frozen.

Ben took a deep breath and starting cutting, the first cut was the worst, it took everything he had not to scream although he was pretty sure Peter did. After that it became easier he continued to compare the length of his own hair as he continued cutting, soon the floor became decorated with Snippets of brown slightly curled hair this continued about an hour until Ben finally put down the scissors.

"Done!"

He said proudly being satisfied with his work, Peter stood up and looked at his reflection

"Wow!"

It was still a little bit longer than Ben's but for a second he almost forgot it was looking at the boy and not the mirror-  
" I know, not bad for an 11-year-old with a shaky hand, huh?"

Peter playfully pushed him.

"Meh".

He said before putting his glasses back on

" Wait, you have contact lenses, right?!"

Ben asked almost in a panic.

"I do, but I don't wear them, I hate them"  
Peter said afraid of what was coming

"But you will have to wear them".  
Ben said firmly

"No way, I'm not putting those in my eyes it's gross!"  
Peter pushed his glasses back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Then cutting your hair was a complete waste of time, because it's not like I can go to summer camp with perfect eyesight then coming back needing glasses also having magically found a pair that is suited for my eyesight, is not very believable!".

Peter pouted his lips but eventually gave in.  
"Fine but I won't wear them until we leave and what about you my dad knows that it would rather die than put on my contacts on, so how are we going to explain to him that I'm now wearing them 24/7?!".

Ben had a smug look on his face as Peter pointed this out  
" I'm actually prepared for that".He ran out of the bathroom and came back holding a pair of black glasses

"When went to get the scissors I found these in lost and found, they been there for a year now so it's cool, they probably belonged to a counselor".

He put them on, they were Big thick frame glasses with no prescription on them and they were almost identical to Peter's

"see, crisis aborted?"

Peter unfolded his arms and smiled at his twin and for a second he forgot about the hang up he had with his contact lenses  
" Ben, I think we're ready!"

Ben smiled back at him  
"We're gonna meet our dads!"

\--

" So after you're done with your whole secret mission, if you're still in New York maybe we can hang out or you can message me".

Miles said as he gave Peter a goodbye hug. The two boys had spent the rest of the camp hang out with the friends they made have after a long explancion and apology and going over their plan every chance they got.

"I will".

Peter promised his friend before letting go of him

" I told you that ditching the nerd camp for summer would be interesting".

Johnny said as he smiled at Peter

" And for once in your life, you can say you were right"

Peter punched him on the shoulder

"See you around four eyes".

Peter waved his hand over his face.

" You can't use that one anymore".

" once a four eyes always a four eyes".

-

" I'll see you guys next summer, okay? And hopefully and we'll get to hang out more".  
Ben said as he said goodbye to Luke and Danny

" Unless you find out that you guys are actually triplets".  
Luke commented with a smile on his face.

"Although if that was true the three of you could make a really cool Huey, Dewey and Louie Halloween costume".  
Danny added

"And I think Peter would agree with you".  
the three boys laugh and give each other a hug before saying goodbye Luke and Danny were on the first bus to new york while Peter would be on the second one.

" I am giving you my baby, don't break it or else I will swear revenge on you".  
Peter said to his twin which made Ben laughed in response as he took Peter's camera into his hand.

" I'm not joking, I don't care if you're my twin I have to survive 11 years without you, I'll survive the rest of my life if I have to".

Ben looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he hanged the camera around his neck.  
" I'll take care of it don't worry, you know the plan right?".  
Ben asked sounding nerves

"Inside and out, seriously Ben I'm the one with the glasses which obviously means that I'm the smart one".  
Peter said while lifting his palms upwards.

"Well, technically I'm the one with the glasses now".  
He said as he pushed back his fake glasses.

"they're fake glasses which means that your smartness is only an illusion".  
They both laughed before they gave each other a long goodbye hug.

"Give one of these to Dad, okay?"  
Peter said Softly

"As long as you give one to Pops".had tightened the grip he had on Peter squeezing him closer to him before loosen it up again,like Peter had mentioned they had been apart for 10 years but now that they spend the summer together and got to know each other knowing that he would have to let go of his brother and not see him for a very time filled the young boy with a strange sense of melancholy.

"Everybody boarding the second bus to the Brooklyn drop-off please bored the buses!"

when the counselors shouted into the microphone it was Peter's time to go.  
"Well, I guess I'll see you in the other side Rogers".  
Peter said as he let go of his brother

"See you soon Stark".  
and with that Peter ran off he said goodbye to the counselor and boarded the bus ,as he took his seat ,he did the math in his head ,the camp was located in Washington which meant that it would take the bus about 4 hours and 30 minutes not counting stops to use the restrooms to reach Brooklyn and counting the three hour time difference that means he would get there at 3 a.m. and that's where his pops would be greeting him.

Peter smiled at the thought of finally meeting him

\--

Ben was anxiously waiting for Happy to pick him up, he was playing what is hands, trying to remain calm.  
It felt like an internity passed by before the black car pulled into the camp. He took a deep breath and slowly got up from the seat as he saw the car door open and saw a man wearing a black suit step out of it, the man looked at him thinking he was Peter and smiled at him as he walked over him. He took off his sunglasses and put his hands on his hips.

"Welp looks like my vacation time is over, get in the car, kiddo".

The man said as he pointed to the car but Ben was frozen he wanted to say something but he could feel the worlds we're stuck in his throat.

" Are you okay? you look paler than usual?  
Happy kneed down looking concerned for the boy.

"Yeah, I'm fine... It's just my dad told me never to get into cars with strange men".  
Ben replied the way he thought Peter would.

The man smiled at him.  
"Come on you little smart-ass just because the plane has your name on it doesn't mean it's going to wait for you"  
He said as he opened the car door.

"Isn't that the point?"  
then jumped into the car he could feel his heart racing he was just a car and plane ride away and if he waited for 10 years he could wait a few more hours.

\--

Peter was rubbing his eyes almost the whole way there not being used to having his contact lenses, he was also reviewing the notes that Ben has given him trying to memorize every detail. He couldn't decide whether to bus ride was taking too long or if it was going too fast.  
And just as his heart rate was starting to go back to normal the bus stopped.

\--

"Are you sure you're feeling all right, normally you're yapping my ear off but you been awfully quiet, and you haven't touched your ice cream which makes me think you might be dying".  
Ben looked up it was true he was only playing with the already melted ice cream, he didn't really ask for it Happy just gave it to him because that's what Peter would have wanted he tried to eat some so not to seem rude but he was too anxious to eat let alone talk.

"I guess I'm just tired, it's been a really exciting month plus you know I think the time difference is getting to me"  
Ben said as he continued to dip his spoon into his melted ice cream but Happy was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

" Kiddo, you might want to check your watch because there is no time difference between California and Washington".

Ben panicked but luckily for him the seat belt light came on which means that the plane was about to land.  
he quickly put on his seatbelt and buried his fingernails into the seat as if the plane was about to crash.

\--

Peter watched as everybody got off the bus, he told himself that everything was okay and that he had to calm down.  
"Okay, Peter you can do this".

He told himself before getting off the bus and got in line with the rest of the campers and but it didn't take long for one of the staff members to come up to him with his big yellow duffle bag at hand and a phone that had a note stuck on it with Ben's name written on it.

" Ben, your dad's waiting for you over there it was nice meeting you, I hope we see you next summer"

the staff member said with a warm smile, she stepped out the way and from a distance Peter could see him, he quickly grabbed Ben's stuff and started running towards the man,as he got closer he could see that even though he was taller, more muscular and had way more facial hair than the man in his old, wrinkled photo it was him, it was his pop's.

"Pop's!".  
Peter yelled out as he reached for his father.

Steve had kneeled down the instant he saw his child running towards him, he was waiting for him with open arms and when he was close enough he pulled him into his arms for a loving long-awaited hug

"You have no idea how much I've missed you!"  
Steve said as he buried his nose in Peter's head

The boy wrapped his arms around his neck and had no intention of letting his dad go anytime soon

"Trust me, I do".  
He held him tighter  
They stood there for a little while and when Steve tried to get up Peter still refuses to let go.

"Maybe you do".  
Steve said with a chuckle and instead of telling his son to let go he just wrapped one arm around Peter's waist and with his other free hand he lifted the luggage as got up from the ground and started walking towards the car.

"oh my God, you're like a superhero!"  
Peter muffled as he wrapped his legs around Steve's waist as he was being carried away.

-

When Ben got out of the plane he started looking around but all he saw was a black car and a tall lean redhead woman standing in front of it.

"Pepper?"  
Ben said with unsure voice and pointed at her.

"Peter?"  
She said imitating the tone of voice Ben used while tilting her head and pointing at the young men with a bright smile on her face,she gently placed and on Ben's cheek.

"We missed you".

Ben smiled at her but he continued to look around but he didn't see anybody else.

" Where's my dad?"

Pepper's smile dimmed down.  
"I'm sorry, Peter, your dad got stuck in a meeting but he will greet you later tonight".

Suddenly Ben's heart sank to his stomach and his face melted down to a frown.  
"Oh...okay".  
Peter warned him about his dad getting stuck at work but he had waited so long to meet him and the thought of having to wait even longer broke his heart.  
Ben looked down at the ground trying not to give away how sad he really felt, he didn't even notice when the car door opened.

" I was supposed to be in a meeting today but then I thought I own the place so I can ditch if I want to.  
Tony said as he brought down his sunglasses and smiled at his son.  
"Hey, spiderling".

Been looked up and was brought face to face with the man in the photo, it was an older version of him but it was still the man that he had been wanting to meet since he was 9 years old and he was finally here, he was finally here with his dad  
He wanted to yell out in glee but before he knew it, he was already running into the car with dad holding him tight  
"It's you, it's really you, your here!"  
Ben yelled as tears flooded his eyes.

"It's me".  
Tony echo the words in the loving soft voice as he held his son in his arms.

" I missed you so much".

"I've missed you too"

 


	5. Operation : Pops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If one forgets there past they are bound to repeat it
> 
> With his arrival at New York City is Mission has started, now taking a Bens Place Peters job is to figure out tell their parents and why they broke up but the most important mission is to spend time just Pops pretending to be a completely different person proves to be harder than expected, specially considering that his actions are raising eyebrows all over his new house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Better late than never, right?  
> I really am grateful for all of you, you guys make my day and I love you all but I want to give out a special shout-out to  
> FriedChickenNisha,foxaylove, and Cheshire_Jinx  
> thank you for sticking with me, you guys are the best!
> 
> ( like always sorry for my awful grammar, I can't really English very well and really need a beta reader)

                                                                                                     

_~10 years ago~_

_Steve was a light sleeper, something that was both a blessing and a curse to any parent, so shortly after hearing the faint whimpering coming from the baby monitor he was already trying to get out of bed without waking up his husband, unfortunately, before he could execute his plan the whimpering had transformed into wailing and he felt Tony's hand grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him back into the bed._  
"Go back to sleep Rogers your only going to make it worse."   
The brunet said with a yawn as he stumbled out of bed.  
As much as he hated to admit it, Tony was right about this. He been having trouble with the twins, in particular, Peter, who was going through a phase where he would refuse to be held by anyone who wasn't Tony, sometimes he could get around this if he was also holding Ben but it didn't always work and if Peter cried it meant that Ben would cry too.

 

 

  _Both their pediatrician and Tony had told him not to worry about it, they had said that the reason behind this was probably due to the fact that Steve was overseas during the twin's adjustment period and that they just needed to get used to him but that didn't really make him feel better, he remembered how his boys Would smile when he held them and how he even made them laugh before he left, he wanted to get back to that but it was hard when one of his boys would scream every time he tried holding him, add to that the guilt he still felt for being forced to leave which meant that Tony had and was still doing all the heavy lifting._

 

  
Despite what his husband told him he got out of bed and made his way to the nursery, his timing seemed to be perfect, when he got there Tony was holding Ben, the stress and worried clear on his face as he tried to calm the baby in his arm and the one who was still in his crib.

"It's okay buddy, I know, I know things are going to be okay".

He looked back at Peter.

" It's okay, your brother is okay no need to cry".

He said in a sleepy voice.

"What's wrong?".

Steve asked as he took Ben from Tony.

" I think he has a fever but I'm not sure if Peter also has one".

Steve looked down at Ben, his chubby cheeks were flushed a light pink and his soft skin was hot to the touch

"I'll get a thermometer".

After taking the temperature of the boy's and a call to the pediatrician they rushed them both to the hospital.

\----

~Present day~

Peter's face felt numb from grinning so much, he couldn't keep his eyes off his dad, this was almost like a dream except for the knot in his throat that forbid him from responding more than two-word answers to all of Steve's questions.

He was nervous, and when he was nervous he would normally ramble off until his throat went sore but right now he was silent, couldn't be a good sign

On a red light, his dad turned to him with a curious smile on his face. "Well, it sounds like you had fun". He reached to ruffle his son's short hair.

"Tons!"

Peter nodded his head and swallowing dry

Steve turned to him and gave him a long look, his smile dimming down as he arched his eyebrows.

"Are you really not going to tell me?"

Peter was visually confused by his Dad's question. He looked around the car as if the right answer was hidden in plain sight.

"Um...tell you what, pops? ".

Steve looked ahead to make sure the light didn't change before turning back to his son.

"I'm your dad, I know when you hide things from me, you really think I wasn't going to notice?"

Peter froze, he was entering full panic mode, was this game over? He glanced at the window, thinking that maybe he could roll out of the car like in the movies without getting hurt.

"You have been biting your nails again, that usually means that you're nervous, so what's wrong?"

Peter took a deep breath of relief and stopped planning his big escape. He looked down at his hands being grateful that he and Ben had the same coping mechanism when it came to dealing with stress.

"Yeah, I guess I'm nervous coming back home, pops."

"Why are you nervous?"

"I mean think about it, pops, I was at a new place for 4 weeks, with new experience and now I'm coming back and it's like I'm coming back as someone new, you know?"

Steve let out a chuckle.

"I can't say that I do."

"I guess is just a me thing, pops"

Steve smile moved to the side.

"That's another thing you keep calling me pops"

He looked up at his dad and tilted his head

"I always call you pops"

Steve laughed again

"You do, but you seem to end every other sentence with pops"

Peter simply shrugged his shoulders

"Well, it's just I haven't been able to say that in forever, pops, "no hello, pops" or "good morning, pops" and I could say dad but it's not the same"

"Why not?"

Steve asked intrigued.

"Because when I say pops, I'm talking about you"

\---

_Steve and Tony were sitting in the waiting room across from each other awaiting news from the pediatrician. Tony didn't have to say a word for his husband to notice how nervous he was,it just took him a quick glance for Steve to see all the signs, from how he sat with his arms across his chest, how he was tapping his foot and the fact that his brown eyes were glued to the door waiting for the doctor to come out._

_The corners of Steve's mouth twitched, he was about to say something when the door of the examination room flung open._

_"I'm afraid I have good news and bad news"._

_The doctor said looking down at the chart in his hand then back to the worried parents._

_"The good news is that Peter seems to be in perfect health and can be let go tonight"_

_the couple had a brief moment of relief after hearing that but their hearts were still racing for their second child._

_"The bad news is that Ben definitely has a fever probably due to infection, we will have to keep him overnight so we can examine him, I do want to assure you that this is very common and that as long as we follow protocol and keep our eyes open for anything he'll be better before you know it "_

_The doctor said with a sympathetic smile._

_after explaining what would happen tonight and giving them instructions on what to do the doctor left the room so the couple could talk._

_"Alright, I say you take Peter back home and try to get some rest, I'll stay here with Ben"_

_"Yeah that sounds good it's just that...nevermind"_

_Tony said with his arm still crossed above his chest._

_"You want to stay with Ben, don't you?" Steve said knowing exactly what Tony was about to say_

_"Look we both know that Peter is not going to get any sleep tonight without his brother and if he doesn't get sleep, I don't get sleep and even if I could I would be too worried about Ben to even close my eyes...so lets just go with your thing,also if Peter leaves this hospital and I'm not the one carrying him we both know that the screams will never stop"_

_"I could take him you know? You said it yourself you would be too worried about Ben, you can stay here with him make sure everything's okay and I can take Peter back home. I have to bond with Peter if we want to fix this, you can't be the only one getting up in the middle of the night, I want to be a better dad"_

_Tony let out a sigh as he thought this over_

_"You sure about this? It's just going to be you and Peter, Jarvis has the week off and you're not going to get any sleep at all, I never knew sleep so I'm used to it but are you?"_

_"When have I ever backed away from a challenge?".He walked over to him with a small smirk, determined to at least make his husband smile before he left "I thought we had kissed sleep goodbye when we decided to become parents"_

_he said as he pulled his husband in for a much-needed hug_

_Tony didn't fight back, he let himself be embraced while letting out a tired laugh, feeling slightly more relaxed._

_"Fuck, why do you always have to be the goddamn knight in shining armor, do you have any idea how frustrating that is?"_

_The ghost of a smile appeared on his lips_   
_as he buried his face further into his husband's chest._

_Steve kissed the top of his head_   
_"I know"_

\----

The car drive came to an end and Peter became slightly comfortable.

"Tell me pops, what did you do in your kid-free time?".

He asked while unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Still parking, keep that on, well Mostly missing you but I did finish those pieces I was working on before you left"

" I want to see them, can I see them?"  
Peter was bouncing up and down his seat.

"Like always, you'll be the first one to see them don't worry, but first we need to unpack your things and then get you something to eat".  
He got out of the car and headed for the trunk to get luggage out.

"Sounds great!".  
Peter yelled out his voice still shaky, he started biting his nails and stayed in the car a bit longer.

" Okay, everything's okay you know everything you need and know he's your pops he's going to like you no matter what...he likes you...you can do this ".  
He said in a low voice trying to pump himself up.

"Ben, are you alright there, buddy?"

Steve called for him, he walked back to the car when he noticed that his son was still inside.

Peter reached for the door and opened it and got out as fast as he could.  
"Yeah, yeah fine a hundred percent fine"

"You know when someone says they're fine a lot, it usually means they're not actually fine, are you sure everything is okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fin-I'm okay, really"

He reassured him.

"Are you still nervous? you said you were nervous"

Peter shrugged his shoulders and nodded

"A little, I know you think is weird"

"Not going to lie I do, but it's okay"

He offered his hand

"Here, just take my hand and if you still feel nervous you can just squeeze it, how does that sound ?".

Peter looked down at his dad's hand for a few seconds, before smiling  
"Sounds good!"  
He took his had as they walked to the apartment ."

"You know? you should really enjoy moments like this because I only got like one year of cuteness left".

This time it was Peter making his dad laugh.  
" Will do, tho I still have hope that I'll find a way to keep your small forever"

_\----_

_When Steve got home there was a calm before the storm, Peter had cried himself to sleep which gave him time to disinfect all of the baby bottles and get the second crib set up so Peter wouldn't catch what Ben had. After he was done, setting everything up including calling Tony, he took a seat next to the crib, even managing to close its eyes for a brief moment before his son woke up with a thunderous scream._

_"Seems about right"_   
_Steve said before getting up from his seat_

\----

The apartment had a simple layout, it had three bedrooms one was used as storage/office space a kitchen that was next to the living room and one bathroom.

what immediately caught Peter's eyes was the way the wall was painted, yes, it was a weird thing to notice but then again Peter was a weird kid, most of the walls looked fine, it was neat and clean and it looked like someone actually knew what they were doing when they painted it but looking around he noticed that the rest of it was the complete opposite, the paint strokes were uneven and sloppy almost as if a child would have done it, that's where it hit him,pops and Ben probably did this themselves at first the mental image made him happy but suddenly he felt his throat go dry, his chest felt tighter as melancholy came over him. He shook his head and tried to ignore it and kept looking around, his focused shifted to a couple of pictures on the wall and shelves, most of them were of Ben and his pop's, there was one he assumed was taken in his uncle's wedding considering everybody was dressed up, another one was of his pop's Squadron, next to it there were a few framed medals but they were overshadowed by what Peter had to assume was every accomplishment Ben had ever made in his short life along with every drawing, it didn't take long before he came across a picture of Steve holding a baby who was no older than a year.

Peter took a long look at it and a thought came across his head.  
"Could that be me?"  
his breathing became heavier and the chest pain came back but once again he moved on and ignored it this time focusing on the furniture that wasn't anything special but it was nice, there were a few books on the coffee table next to the TV and a Sketchbook on the windowsill that was connected to a fire escape. The apartment as a whole was warm and welcoming much like Steve himself.

Peter headed straight for the sketchbook, he started flipping through it, this wasn't the first time he had seen his pops' work, his dad had given him three drawings and told him it was from his other dad the same day he gave him the picture, they were old and time had made the paper go from white to yellow and they weren't as refined as these ones but he still loved them, especially since up until now they were the only way he could truly connect to his pops,a picture only told him what he looked like but the drawings were much more personal and gave him a small glimpse of who he was, at first he just hang them on his room with pieces of tape, later on, he worked up the courage to ask his dad for a frame for each one, but now he had the real thing but he didn't know what to say to him and he also thought he was a different person witch made bonding a bit of a challenge .

"Ben, you need to unpack". Steve brought him back to reality as he made his way to Ben's room with the big yellow duffle bag.

"Sorry".

He put down the notebook and ran to his brother's room, taking off the back-back and throwing it on the bed before rushing out.

"I'll be right back, I need to use the bathroom first!".

"Okay, and what did I tell you about just throwing things around like that...Ben!"

Steve let out a sigh of defeat when the boy rushed out before he was done talking.

Peter stop dead on his track when he saw three other doors in front of him, he looked between the trying to remember the makeshift blueprints that Ben showed telling him which room was what. he reached for the middle and gave himself a mental high five when he saw he got it right.

As soon as he was in he locked the door behind him and got out the eye drops that were in his pocket ,he applied a few in his eyes not wanting his contacts to dry out or else he would be in real trouble after that there was a long pause as he dropped on the ground he didn't know what to feel, he wasn't exactly sad and was still fully committed to the mission he just felt tired.

He was still sitting on the floor when he got out of his phone remembering that he promised his brother that he would text him when he arrived

Just got home, BTW why didn't you tell me Pops is like a super hero!-PPS

I guess I forgot-BRS

By the way, I also arrived, sorry I didn't text you right away we were out getting food, you were right, dad is funny!-BRS

And super cool he got us burgers-BRS

Okay, next time just warn me-PPS

The text you later, bro, in the bathroom so can't stay too long or it would look weird -PPS

TMI-BRS

Peter pocketed his phone and rushed out of the bathroom

"I'm back, sorry for the backpack thing"

"It's okay". Steve turned around and in his hands, he was holding the black spidey plushie

"Care to introduce us?",

Peter's eyes widen in a panic

"Oh no, spidey".

"Spidey?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's his name, um... you do remember that friend I was telling you about in the car? it belongs to him, I must have packed it by accident, I don't know how that happened because he has an almost unhealthy attachment to it like it's a security blanket, like for example if he was in a place far away from home in a stressful situation he would definitely want it with him".

Steve seemed to be processing the information with a blank stare that only made Peter even more nervous than he already was.

"Well, in that case, we should probably get it back to him, I can hold on to him and tomorrow we can mail it"

"No!". He took the toy from his dad in a panic.

"...I mean there's no need for that I'll hold on to him and later I'll see how I can get it back to him".Before Steve could say anything else Peter salvation came in the form of a knock

"I'm going to put a pin on this, you finish unpacking and I'll go see who's at the door"

"Okay"

Peter said still holding the fuzzy toy close to his chest, once his dad was gone he placed it on the bed next to the pillows and ran to get his glasses out of his backpack and hide them, one thing was spidey but explaining why he had his friend's glasses would get him more than a blank stare.

"Okay, think this goes here and this...here?"   
he was just guessing where all of this stuff went and ended up dumping all of the clothes into the hamper that was next to the door."This looks fine".He said to himself, he was in the middle of admiring his work when his door flew open and before he knew it he was being grabbed and placed over an unfamiliar shoulder.

"What's happening!!"

He yelled out

"Nothing, just kidnaping you".

his supposed kidnapper said in a nonchalant voice as he brought him out into the living room

"Don't kidnap my son".  
Steve said with the same tone as the kidnapper as he unpacked a box of take-out

"He is my godson, I can do what I want"  
Despite being three seconds away from screaming his head off the words "Godfather" hit him hard, if this man was his godfather it meant that he was...  
"Uncle Bucky?!".

"Of course it's me, as far as I know, you only have one super awesome uncle"  
he said spinning him around.

"Buck, put him down he's not a sack of potatoes"

"Fine, you are no fun".Bucky sat down who he thought to be Ben and ruffled his hair with two hands, one of them being a robotic prosthetic that kinda reminded Peter of Dummy.

"We missed you around here, your pops has a stick up... he is a stick in the mud"

"Nice save"

"I..missed you too". Peter got a good look at his godfather, he had long hair that was tied up in a ponytail, stubble on his chin and if it wasn't for the incredibly warm smile and carrying eyes, he had the look of someone you would actually hire to actually kidnap and kill someone.

"My godfather is sooo cool!" Peter said with glee.

"See, the kid gets it".Bucky said before pulling him in for a hug at first peter stood frozen but eventually, he hugged him back.

"Speaking of cool uncles where did you leave Sam?"

"He kicked me out for being too annoying so I decided to come over and bother you instead"

He said finally letting go of the boy.

"Jokes on him because while he is off being productive I get to see my favorite nephew and bring him his favorite take out"

he ruffled Peter's hair again.  
"Awesome!"

the boy lit up at the mention of take out.

"Favorite? his your only nephew"

steve said in a chuckle but Bucky made an interesting gesture at that

"...Right, let's eat" He clapped his hands together and change the subject as quickly as possible.

Peter bit the inside of his cheek as he observed that last exchange

___

Steve had been trying everything to calm his baby down, about an hour ago he had a small victory, he managed to make Peter stop crying by putting him down on his crib and rocking it but it was short-lived because when the time came around to change him he found himself right where he started, actually that was a lie, he was having even more trouble now especially since Peter was hungry but he refused the bottle and he the feeling that he was the reason why.

"Honey, it's okay, it's okay, it's me your pops".

The second after he said that Peter's cries became even more intense

"That's the problem, isn't it?"

Steve sounded defeated.

" you just need to give him time"

A female voice spoke as she came into the room, Steve then turned around to face the owner of said voice.

"Pepper?, Hi, what are you doing here?"

He greeted her with a very tired smile.

" Tony told me what happened I figured I would come by and see if I could help with anything and by the looks of it seemed that my timing is perfect"

She stretched out her arms.

"May I?"

she asked sweetly.

Steve looked down at Peter and took a deep breath before handing him to his godmother.

"Hello, my sweet boy, you miss your brother don't you".

She rocked him back and forth in her arms and slowly the crying stopped.

Steve then handed her a bottle.

"Could you help me?" I haven't been able to do it myself"

Pepper shot him another smile before feeding Peter who happily latched on and started eating.

A sense of relief came over Steve but the sadness was still very much present.

It wasn't just that Peter refused to be held by him, it was everything that it represented. he had been away when both his husband and boys needed him, and now that he was back not only did he feel useless but you felt like a stranger with his own family.

\--

At first, Peter found himself glued to Steve's side and just like in the car only responding with two or three-word answers to all of Bucky's questions but as the day went on something interesting happened. he found himself connecting more with his uncle than his pops, It was just easier to talk to him, there was no wall between them and Peter didn't get a weird feeling in his stomach that he couldn't explain.

By the time they sat down to eat he was now glued to bucky's side talking about the first thing that would come into his head as Bucky nodded and joined in when he actually knew what he was talking about.

"No, there are only four houses but you can be a combination of two or more or you can be in just one house but have tendencies of another"

He took a pause from his explanation to take a sip from his soda.

"for example, I'm a Gryffindor but I definitely have Hufflepuff tendencies"

"See, I think I'm the other way around"

Bucky said as he nodded his head

"A Hufflepuff with Gryffindor tendencies?

"Bingo"

"Wait, didn't you say you were a Ravenclaw?"

Steve jumped into the conversation.

Peter bit the inside of his cheek at the question

"...um yeah but...You know things change, hey! Do you think that happens in Hogwarts? Like one day they call you into the headmaster's office and they're like oops we sorted you went to the wrong house or do you think that there's like a bunch of students who are asking to be in a different house...haha that be funny"  
Peter took his glass and jugged it.  
"Um...uncle buck can I have your extra dumpling?"

The two men were staring at him with raised eyebrows before they shared a look.

"Sure thing"

He passed the plastic container to his nephew.

"that bus ride but have given you quite the appetite, huh?"

Steve asked studying his son's face before going back to his meal, Peter wished to know what he was thinking.  
"Tons"

As Peter reached for his dumplings, his phone went off like crazy, he got it out and saw that Ben was texting him none stop.

"You know the rules no phone in the table"

Steve said without looking up from his food

Peter pocketed the phone afraid that his dad might see it."It's just my friend from Camp"

" The same one you were telling me about?"

"Yeah, we became really close you could say we're basically Brothers"  
He said laughing to himself.

"I'm glad that you made a friend but that doesn't change the rules you can text him after dinner"

Peter looked down where he kept his phone, still worried about his twin but he told himself that things couldn't have gone too bad, after all, if they did his dad would have wasted no time in calling to tell him he's grounded until the age of 50 and that he was on his way to pick him up, or Ben would have tried calling himself,regardless something had happened but he would have to wait until the end of dinner to find what it was,his anxiety was crank up to eleven being and the strings of messages also serve as a reminder that his first day was almost up and he didn't get any information that was useful to the mission,he still wasn't actually sure how talk to his dad,let alone ask him something without sounding suspicious but he remembered that Ben told him that if he couldn't get stuff from his dad he should ask his uncle Buck.

He cleared his throat   
"Speaking of friends, you have known, my Pops since I was a baby right? got any good stories?"

"Not to brag, but I have known him longer than that.we were younger than you when we became best friends, so, yes, I have plenty of stories although for some of them I have to wait until you're a little bit older in order for me to tell them"

"How is that not bragging? ".

Steve pointed out.

"Point is kiddo, I got plenty of blackmail material"

"Remind me again why I'm friends with you ?"

Steve said shaking his head."Also, this is a two-way street because the day you and Sam have kids that's when I'll have my revenge "

"But in the meantime, Ben do want to hear about the time he almost got us banned from Coney Island because of his weak stomach?"

"Eww, yes please"

\---

T _he eight-month-old was happily playing in his walker, he was glued to Pepper's side, every time his aunt would get up he would fallow her._

_"Are you sure? it's the least I can do, after all, I'm sure you're spending your lunch break here "_

_"Don't worry about that, I ate before coming here, also I don't mind you know I would do anything for this family"_

_"Our, this is your family too"_

_Pepper gave him a warm smile and sat next to him._

_"What's wrong?"_

_"Nothing, don't worry about it"_

_"Your worst than Tony, come on you can tell me, after all, you said it yourself were family"_

_He looked down at Peter who was still playing next to Pepper._

_"I just...I feel like I can't connect with him and I'm afraid that I won't be able too, they were just two months old when I left and now I've missed so much, I can't help but feel so far away not only from them but also...from Tony,I love him, he and the twins are my_ universe _but... "_

_She took his hand_

_"Have you told Tony this?"_

_"I don't want to worry him"_

_Pepper gave him a sympathetic smile._

_"It can't be easy especially after everything that has happened lately, things and certain people have made things difficult for the two of you-"_

_"look I'm not his biggest fan but I don't want to blame the problems in my marriage on one person"_

_"Regardless of that, you should talk to him or else things won't get better "_   
_she got up from the couch and guided him over to peter_

_"I can't talk to Tony for you but I can help you with this, he loves this, watch"_

_She put her hands together and begun to sing_

_"The itsy bitsy spider_

_Went up the water spout_

_Down came the rain_

_And washed the spider out_

_Out came the sun and_

_Dried up all the rain_

_And the itsy bitsy spider_

_Went up the spout again"_

_The baby started laughing and making grabby hands at her._

_"Both boys love it when you sing to them but Peter especially loves it when you sing itsy bitsy spider, you try it"_

_Steve put his hands together and begun to sing, even using the same hand gestures Pepper had used._

_"And the itsy bitsy spider_

_Went up the spout again"_

_when he finished the song something magical happened, Peter laughed and just like he did a few seconds ago he reached out for his pops for the first time since he was back._

_"He laughed, I made him laugh!"_

_He picked him up with ease as he did his baby clapped his hands together as Steve kissed his head._

_"Hey, there Petey, you're my little spidey aren't you?"_

_he looked over to Pepper._

_"Thank you"_

_she shook her head and got up from the floor._

_"That was all you"_

_Steve kissed him again, Peter just laughed and reached for his face._   
_"I love you too, Petey"_

_\---_

"Why would you tell that while we're eating?!" Steve said disgusted putting down his own meal

"The better question is why didn't you stop me?"  
Bucky responded with a shrug

"that was so gross...I loved it, can you please tell another one?"

"Ben, don't encourage him"

"To be honest kiddo I much rather hear about camp"

Out of habit, Peter pressed his finger on the middle of his forehead as if he was pushing back his glasses.

"Um... How about you tell me one more story and I'll tell you about...um my friends Luke and Danny"

"Deal"  
he extended his hand so they could shake on it.

"Any request?"  
" All I ask is Mercy from a weak stomach so no more gross ones"

Steve added.  
Peter started biting his nails as he looked between his pops and godfather.  
"Got any with me and pops when I was a baby or better yet...even one with my other dad in it?"  
Suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed Bucky's eyes widen not knowing what to say while Steve almost choked on his drink

"Pops, are you okay?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine"  
Steve said with a cough as he tried to recompose himself

"You sure, buddy?"

"I'm sure"  
he looked down and noticed that he spilled some of his drink on his shirt.

"I'll be right back"

Peter looked down  
"Did I do something wrong?"

Peter then felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Lisen carefully kiddo, you did absolutely nothing wrong, your pops is just well... How do I put this... When it comes to these kinds of things he can be a real... Knucklehead especially when it comes to your other dad but that ain't your fault"

Peter looked up at him with a week smile

"Thanks"  
the young boy took a deep breath and played with his food.  
" it's just really frustrating not knowing anything"

" I know kiddo but I really think your dad should be the one who tells you all those stories and he will you just need too--

"Wait?"  
Peter said sounding so defeated as he rested his chin on the table.

"Who says you have too?"  
That caught Peter's attention, he turned to his godfather as he sat up.

"I know your pops' responds is always that he'll tell you when you're older but even though I would follow him to hell and back but that doesn't mean that I agree with everything, so I say you give your old man A Taste of his own medicine and be as stubborn as he is and sure he'll crack and no time"

"You think so?"

"I know so, just talked to him trust me"

 

The rest of the evening felt a bit awkward and Peter didn't really leave his uncle's side as he built up the courage to continue with the mission. But The time came where his lifeline had to leave

"Well I have to go annoy my husband now"

"Thanks for everything buck, tell Sam we said hi"

"Will do"

Peter ran over to bucky and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks, uncle bucky"

he hugged him back and pet his head.

"Anny time, kiddo"

he kneeled down and said in a low voice

"Remember what we talked about"

Peter nodded his head and hugged him again.

"I'm glad you're my godfather"

"Right back at you"  
after bucky left Peter walked around the apartment while playing his hands when an idea came to his head, he picked up a couch cushion.

"Um...pops, do you think we could have a sleepover?"

"Sleepover?"

"Yeah, like maybe we could build a pillow fort in the living room and watch some movies, you know could be fun"

Steve walked over to him it looked as if he was thinking about it.

"Tell you what, help me clean the table and I'll throw in a bash of fresh cookies to the offer"

"Race you to the kitchen!"

\--

_The rest of the day had gone surprisingly smoothly, even after pepper had left._

_Steve had spent all day bonding with Peter, playing, reading and just holding him, he almost didn't want to put him down but, as he laid down the sleeping baby on his crib he said in a low voice._

_"Petey, I'm sorry I had to leave you, I promise that I will never do that again, I love you and your brother more than anything, I will always be there and I'll never let anything bad happen to either of you?"_

_he watched him sleep with a smile on his face, he only tore his eyes away from him when he heard the front door opening._

_He walked out to the living room and saw a very tired Tony, with Ben who was sound asleep in his baby carrier._

_"Your back!"_

_He took Ben and guided his husband to the couch where he almost collapsed_

_"How did it go?"_

_"The doctor said that he'll be fine, thank god"_   
_Tony grabbed the carrier and put it next to him, Ben looked much better now, his cheeks were still a little pink but he looked so peaceful._

_"You gave us quite the scare, little guy"_   
_Steve reached to grab his little foot that was sticking out from the blanket._

_"The important thing is that his okay and that's his home"_   
_Tony rested his head on Steve's shoulder, it felt like a huge weight was lifted from both of them knowing that their son will be okay._

_"What did he asked for?"_   
_Tony asked in a sleepy voice struggling to stay awake._

_"What?"_

_"The magical being you obviously made a deal with to get silence in this house, what did he ask for?"_

_Steve_ laughted _and put an arm around Tony._

_"No deal, just lots of singing, our Petey sure loves spiders also pepper"_

_Tony snuggled closer to his husband._

_"I'm proud of you, cap, and just on time because this going to be the first time they'll spend the whole night apart, speaking of that so we should-"_   
_Tony yawed before trying to get up but Steve kept him in place._

_"I already got everything ready, why don't you go and get some sleep yourself?"_

_He looked up at him with sleepy doe eyes_

_"join me?"_

_steve kissed his husbands head._   
_"Go, I'll be in there in a minute"_

_Tony got up but before he went in, Steve took his hand._   
_"Tony?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"I just wanted to say that I love you, I feel like I haven't said that enough lately"_

_He squeezed his hand a bit tighter._

_"I love you too, but I would love you more if you let me go get change"_

_"Don't you mean sleep?"_

_"No, I want to get change so I can go check on peter then I'll collapse on the bed and go into a coma"_

_Steve leaned down and laid a small kiss on Tony's lips before letting him go._   
_He carefully got Ben out of his carrier and swaddle him, but on his way to the nursery, he heard a knock at the door. When he saw who was on the other side of the door the atmosphere change drastically, His warm smile disappeared as a stern frown took his place._

_"Steve! my boy, I haven't seen you in a while, how you been?"_   
_obadiah greeted him with an overly cheery tone_

_"Mr.Stane, to what do I owe the pleasure?"_

_The older man much to Steve's dismay invited himself in._

_"Yield soldier, no need for such formality, I simply came to return Tony's phone, he left it in my car, poor thing must be so exhausted"_

_"You drove him home?"_

_"I insisted on it, I even kept him company for most of the day"_

_there was something about Obadiah that Steve didn't like, correction there were many things about him Steve didn't like, to the way he would undermine Tony and try to pass it off as encouragement, or when he tried to pass backhanded insults as compliments, he didn't like his smile that would set off all kinds of alarms in his heads ,but most of all he didn't like it when he was near his family._

_"Speaking of Tony, where is he?"_

_His voice always sounded sickly sweet whenever he was near him, almost as if he was trying extra hard to hide something, which just added to Steve's distaste of him._

_"He's sleeping"_

_He noticed how the other man smiled at Ben and took a step forward that prompted Steve to take one backward._

_"Don't be like that after all I think they're more used to me then there are to you"_

_He tried to pass off that comment off as playful but Steve knew those words were meant to hurt him._

_"Thanks for bringing him home and for returning his phone, if that's all, you know where the door is"_  
  
_Obadiah looked at the door then back at him._  
 _"Call me crazy captain, but I get the feeling you don't want me here"_

_"And I get the feeling that you already know the answer to that"_

_Steve's voice was almost monotone with his stern look firm on his face._

_Obadiah laughed as if they had just shared an old inside joke and put his hand on Steve's shoulder._

_"Listen, boy, I think it's time you and I buried the hatchet, I know that at the beginning I did some questionable things but, I can I sure you, I'm not the bad guy here, all I want is to look after the stark name"_

_Steve took Stane's hand off his shoulder._

_" Mr.Stane I do believe you're looking out for someone, but I don't think it's anyone named Stark"_

_Obadiah's smile faded away and for a second Steve could see the Man's true colors._

_"Straight and to the point, I'm sure that's one of the qualities that made you Howard's favorite, well up until the point you stole his son, but even then he still had a soft spot for you"_

_"I didn't steal anyone-"_

_"Spare me the story I've heard it before, it's quite a sweet one I have to admit it's almost like a fairy tale, But the funny thing about fairy tales is that even though we all love them, we also know that there not very realistic"._

_He walked over to Steve and fixed the collar of his shirt_

_"Listen to me closely, boy, you better get used to having me around because unlike you, I don't plan on leaving"_

_He looked down at Ben._

_"Goodbye, little one"_   
_with that, the older man left_

_Steve could feel anger overwhelm him but when he got to the nursery something else came over him. He hated to admit it but Obadiah's words kept buzzing in his head he tried to ignore them but he found himself right where he started._

_\--_

The two were sitting in the middle of the living room in their pillow fort, there was a random Disney movie playing in the background and a plate of freshly baked cookies in the middle of the two of them.

"These are pretty good, I'm glad I let you put that extra portion of chocolate chips?"

Peter's jaw fell  
"You noticed, damn it, I thought I was being sneaky"

"I'm your dad I notice everything. Also language"

"Wait how was that a curse word?...that explains so much"

"What was that?"

"I thought you knew everything"

Steve laughed and gently nudged him

"Haha, very funny"

there was a long paused

"I never asked, what house are you in?"

"mmmhm, I think...I'm in the same house you are in, I even have more than a few Hufflepuff tendencies"

Peter got on his knees and smiled widely at that.  
"Really? that so cool!

"Well us Gryffindors have to stick together"

Peter looked down at the floor and went back to his spot

"Pops?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't want you to freak out and spit out your drink...I just wanted to know more"

Steve reached out for his son and placed him on his lap.  
"Don't apologize"  
Steve held him tighter, it felt as he thought Peter would suddenly turn to dust if he let go of him.

"There are still things I'm not ready to tell you but..."

he took a deep breath and loosen his grip on peter

"What was the story you wanted to hear?"

Peter's smile became impossibly large.  
"How did you meet?"

Steve patted his head and put him aside before getting up  
"I'll show you"

he left the fort and headed for the third room and came back shortly with an old looking notebook and sat down next to him.

"This was the first I time saw him"

He pointed at an old sketch, it looked even older than the one he had on the walls of his room. The drawing was simple, it was just what looked to be a younger version of his dad sitting at a windowsill with his attention on the city below him, it wasn't very detailed but it was still an incredible drawing.

"I didn't know who he was, I just saw this boy with the most curious eyes I've ever seen, I didn't even think about talking to him I just started drawing, he saw me doing it but he didn't say anything he just smiled ,something about your dad had this tendency of Faking smiles but when they were genuine, it would light up to any room, don't get me started the sound of his laughter it was the sweetest sound..."

Peter wasn't sure if it was the way his pops was talking about his dad or that this was the first time he ever heard this story but he felt tears his eyes up

"You shouldn't stare at people it's kinda rude and creepy, pops"  
He said playfully wiping the tear off his face.

Steve put an arm around him

"your right, think?"

He shook his head and sniffed

  
"What happened next, did you fall in love after that?"

"That same day, your grandpa introduced us not long after that, You what to know something? even though I was drawn to your dad right away, I didn't fall in love immediately, that took a bit of time but looking back now...he still made me fall pretty quickly "

Peter was still having trouble reading his pops but anybody could tell that whatever he felt all those years ago was still present, he bit the inside of his cheek before asking

"Do you still do?"

Steve smiled sadly still, his gaze still glued to the notebook.

"Ben, that question has a long confusing grownup answer to it, trust me you don't want to hear it, at least not right now"

"...Alright"

"You know I never did show you those new pieces, how about tomorrow we head off to the studio and maybe after that we could go to coney island, just like old times?"

Steve pushed Peter's hair back

"And maybe I can tell you more about how I met your dad"

"Really!, you promise?"

He took his son into his arm.

"I promise"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What was happening with Ben?  
> guess you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out and I promise it won't take me 84 years to update this time
> 
> Before you go I want to address t the Obadiah part, I know gave off a very strong grooming vibe but I didn't put any warning tags because it was something I added last minute and I'm not going in that direction but I understand if it makes people uncomfortable so if you think I should add in the tags please let me know
> 
> thank you and I hoped you enjoyed


	6. Operation:Dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parents always try to do the best for their children but more often than not they would make mistakes.  
> it's Ben's turn to meet his Dad and deal with deal with obstacles along the way both old and new

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Okay I just posted the fifth chapter I already have rough notes for the 6th and 7th chapters so I can easily get these done before the end of the month, what could possibly happen? 
> 
> Life, standing behind me with a malicious smile ready to slap me in the face: oh, you'll see.

                                                                                            ~Nine and a half years ago~

_"Well, look what I found here, a little cutie pie for me to take,"_

_Maria said in a baby voice, as she looked down at her grandchild who was safely on the floor on top of his baby mat and underneath his arch_

_"Anthony, you really shouldn't leave him on the ground, he could get a flat head"_

_.Tony took a deep breath as he heard her from the nursery, if he had a dollar for every time his mother acted like a backseat parent, well, Howard's favorite threat of disowning him that he'd joyously use the few times that they would see each other would no longer hold any weight to them._

_"Mom, as I explained for the 8th time in the last five minutes, he isn't there all day, I had to change Peter, but Ben gets overprotective and refuses to let his little brother out of his sight, and as you can see I don't have four arms so this is the best solution for my child not to cry". He finished getting him into a clean onesie." Grandma is driving, daddy insane". He said in an irritated, baby voice. "Plus, he likes it there"._

_"Young man, don't use that tone with me!"_

_She scolded her son before kneeling and smiling, giving her full attention to her grandchild. "Well, I'm sure he would prefer, his grandmother"_  
_Ben only proved her right by reaching out for her, laughing as she picked him up, and gently rocked him in her arms as she started to sing._  
_You are my little boy, a prince with chocolate eyes so curious and wide courtesy of dad, chubby cheeks and rosy lips that come from me, for now in my arms you fit, and I can steal your nose with a pinch but one day you will grow big, be taller than me, you'll be strong and in my arms no longer fit but to me, you'll always be my little prince_

_"Tony recognized the lullaby it was ridiculously sweet, but it was one of the few tender memories he had. Maybe his mother knew most of his childhood would be deprived of that tenderness, so the few moments that she had control over she would make exceptionally sweet. As he walked out of the nursery with his baby in hand he smiled at his mother while she continued to sing, despite everything he was glad that she was here, he was at a point in his life where his secretary cared for his wellbeing more than his actual father, both his husband and Rhodey were overseas so, most days he would spend alone, so it was nice when she could sneak in this rare visit, but he didn't tell her, he knew, she knew that he was grateful. She held Ben over her head_

_\---_

Ben wasn't sure when exactly he let go of his dad but when he finally did, he felt like he had just run a marathon, he tired but at the same time filled with energy, he was even sweating a bit.

He wanted to talk to his dad more but before he could Pepper started talking to him about meetings and other stuff that sounded important and it made him not want to interrupt. He looked out the window to distract himself and he had to admit the view was stunning, Malibu was like something out of a movie, Bright and beautiful and right now it felt like it was a world away from Brooklyn, he would still pick his city in a heartbeat. 

 Ben turned to his dad, much like the city them self his pop's and dad seemed like day and night, he tried picturing them together as the much bigger adults they were now, instead of the version of the teared up picture and the image he got almost seemed ridiculous, like his pops in a limo or his dad going grocery shopping seemed almost funny to him ,but maybe it was because he didn't know him that well, after all, he had was an old picture and blurry memories, he never really gave a personality to the man in the photo, when Ben thought of him he was always his other dad, his other dad who played piano, his other dad who had to leave, and who he desperately wanted to meet.  And now that he was here it was more like meeting an important celebrity instead of meeting his father, Peter had also warrened him about his dad's icy exterior but assured him that it wasn't real, so Ben just had to get to know him better, but he wasn't sure where to start.

he started playing with his hand and eventually brought his hand close to his mouth with the intention of biting off his nails but was stopped by the sound of his father's voice.

"so, what's the story?"

huh?"

Before Ben could look up, his dad was ruffling his hair

"the story behind this, from what I know you hate having your haircut"

"Oh, um it's just I got gum in my hair, so my friend cut it for me"

"And the counselor just let you do that?!"

Pepper asked concerned.

"You be surprised what we got away with"

the boy responded with a grin as he remembered the prank war that sends everything into motion.

"see, what did I tell you, love, hippie-dippy?"Happy chimed in.

"Well I'm surprised that gum was the only food-related incident you had considering all the snacks you took; I was worried that you made your cabin into a bear magnet"

"No bears, just gum".He said sill tense but still with a smile.

"kiddo are you okay, there".

"Um, yeah just tired I guess".

Ben said as he swallowed dry.

"Regular tired or car tired?"

He took a minute to answer, he rubbed the back if his neck.

"the second one I guess?"

"Alright".

he watched his dad with a curious smile as noticed how he bit the inside of his cheek and leaned forward.

"Happy, what are we close too right now"

"Our options are an arcade or park".

"What do you say kiddo do you want t to have a quick stop before heading home?"

"Wait are you serious?".

"Yeah, can't have you all jittery in the car"

."Um...Arcade then"

"You heard the boss".

Ben caught himself smiling as he watched his dad. Maybe it would be too hard.

\---

"Oh, look at those eyes, they really do remind me of yours at that age...even if they're not"

"I see that as a good thing, this way there's a chance that they will be safe from the Fu-mess up Stark gene. he walked over to the play-pin and carefully put Peter down, he then took Ben from his mom so the two could play before nap time. He then let himself collapse on the couch, closing his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

"There is no such Gene". Maria responded firmly as she took a seat next to him. soon Tony felt his mother's hand pushing his hair away from his face, he opened his eyes, he knew that look and the words that normally followed it. Tony covered his face with his hands in annoyance." Ugh, Mom, I told you, I'm fine, now can you stop worrying?"

"No, I'm your mother that's my job, especially when I see you here alone and as much as I love my grandchildren, watching you is like watching a baby have babies"

Tony took his hands away from his face to reveal a frown, he sat up from the couch clearly upset about that comment. "What's that supposed to mean? that I'm not mature enough, that I'm a bad dad! because I do everything in my power so my children are happy and healthy, also, you're scolding me for being too responsible? when a few years ago you and Howard never got tired of telling me how irresponsible I was"

"Anthony Edward Stark, don't you dare twist my words "Maria kept her cool, but she did raise her voice at her son. "I never once called you a bad father, I called you an overwhelmed father, which you clearly are, but while we're in the subject of maturity it's no secret that you are at an age where you have no business being married with two children especially when you're doing it alone"

"I'm not alone, I'm married" Tony responded in a calmer voice but still fuming. "But your husband isn't here, dear". She reached out and placed a hand on Tony's shoulder. "You are as stubborn, as you are smart, which means that when you set your mind on something there is no force on earth strong enough to keep you from it, but, darling to solve a problem you don't go to the other extreme. That only causes more problems. I'm not here to scold you but we are worried that you're spreading yourself too thin"

"unless you also mean you and Jarvis, you mean "your worried" because we both know your husband doesn't"

"Your father does care; he just has a funny way of showing it"

He rolled his eyes at that. "Real hilarious"

Maria took Tony's hand. "I know your father did some very questionable things these last few years that I can't and wouldn't want to defend but..." she let out a big sigh as she squeezed his hand. "You have to understand where he's, coming from, when you are a parent you try to make the best choices for your child but more often than not, we make the wrong ones, but by the time you realize that the damage is done, the and the best thing you can do is pick the broken pieces up "She looked back at her grandchildren. "Trust me one day you'll understand"

\----

Okay I'm going to go order and get is a table, but don't think I'm not coming back for a reach match"

"Looking forward to it"

"This time with no cheating".

Pepper said looking straight at Tony who had been telling Ben cheat codes for the game through the whole match.

"You call it cheating I call it teamwork".

That made Ben laugh, he noticed that his dad much like Peter had the ability to make him laugh without even trying.

"Yes ma' ma"

Tony grabbed Ben's wrist and made him salute to Pepper,

She fondly rolled her eyes but smiled at them

"I'll take your word for it".

Ben nodded happily as his dad continue t move around his arms like he was a puppet.

"Daaad, stop" He protested but he was laughing

"I don't know what you're talking about, this is all you"

"No, it's not".Ben instead but made no effort to pull away from his dad.

"Okay, okay"

his dad let him go but he was still hugging him. He was much sillier than Ben imagen him to be he would be.

"Thanks for this"

"No, problem, kiddo"

"Also..thanks for actually picking me up".Ben said sheepish voice.

"Of curse, I was going to pick you up, I've missed you like crazy, plus I had to make sure they brought the right kid home "

"...Yeah..." Ben knew it was a joke but he still lathed nervously."Come there this one game I saw I want to try out before we eat".He got out of the hug and ran towards the game but he turned on his heels and faced his dd."I missed you like crazy too"

\---

The thing about his pops was that he was kinda strict about diet, ma he wanted him to eat healthily and all that jazz, sometimes they had take-out but that was only when his pops got too busy to cook or when his godfather wanted to surprise him but was never it's never straight up junk food. To ben that was really rare, it only happened at the end of the school year and if he asked for on his birthday, so he was enjoying this

"I use you as an excuse to eat unhealthily"

"It's never a bad time for a burger".  
Ben applied with a giant smile. It was just a two of them right now, Pepper had taken something to go and went to eat with her husband who was keeping an eye on them from afar.  
Ben took one of the fries and dipped into his chocolate milkshake

"why would you do that to an innocent fry?"

"Hey don't knock it until you try it, I used to think of a super gross but then my p-friend convince me"  
he corrected himself and ate his milkshake fry

"I've had, so I every right to knock it, what friend?"

"One from camp"

"I knew I should have sent you to science camp".  
His dad said playfully.

"I had lots of fun, tho"

"I'm glad you did, would you like to go back next summer?"

"Not sure, I'll keep you posted". He said with a shrug as he took a bite of his burger.

"Well when you have a spot open in your schedule let me know so we can discuss your plans for next summer, Mr.Stark"

"I'll let aunt Pepper know then"

They both stared at each other before breaking into laughter.

\---

"These are...nice?" Maria held examined the onesie in her hand, it was good quality but plain, like something you buy for a baby shower where you don't know the gender of the baby or aren't close with the parents.

He turned to his mom."I almost forgot about those, Obi gave it to me, he sends a basket and everything, I guess it was his way of apologizing".He was looking over some his own notes of his latest project, he found it tedious but necessary as his mom helped him tidy up.

"He's been around you a lot lately" Maria spoke concerned for tony.

"Yeah, but to be fair he's been like that since I was a kid", He said with a shrug.

"Do you trust him?"

"No, but then again I don't trust anyone, for example, are you really my mom or did Haward build you in a lab?"

"Anthony! if your father really had built someone, it would have been you"

"Well, sometimes I do wonder". they both smiled at each other and started to laugh.

"We should keep it down, we wouldn't want to wake them up".She walked over to the TV with the intent of turning it off.

"Wait, mom, just lower the volume but turn it off".

Maria looked up at the screen and noticed it was on the news, she did s her son asked."Darling, his fine, in fact, both of them are"

Tony, bit the inside of his cheek and tense up but didn't say anything he just continued to work.

Maria Noticed this."Have you any contact with him?"

"Yeah". He said coldly, he was lying but his walls were up right now and his mother knew better than anyone that right now those walls were as thick and cold as Iron and there was no way of getting through them.

\---

"Wow!".Ben said quietly as he looked around, sure Peter had shown him Pictures of his house and everything but he was still taken about it, he took his dad's hand almost as if he was afraid to get lost in there.

"Jarvis we're home"

An older man stepped into the room.

"Welcome home, you two"

Ben slowly walked up to him."Hello, Jarvis".He said shyly

"My dear boy, how I've missed you". He pulled Ben into a hug without hesitation and

Peter had told him that Jarvis was basically their grandfather and that made Ben really happy sure he had his pops and aunt and uncles but he never had a grandfather, the closest thing he had was stories about his aunt may and grandparents Sara and Joseph but it wasn't the same as someone actually filling in that role. A month ago his family was small and broken and know, sure it was still broken but it anything but small he finally meet his dad and he had a brother along with even more aunts and uncles, to say it felt nice would be a huge understatement".

"Your hair is shorter"

"Yeah," Ben said with a shrug and he continued to hug him. Jarvis pulled him away.

"Now, is it me or did you grow as centimeters, or so?"

"Hope so".

it'd be cool being the taller twin, Ben thought to himself, also if he was he would never let Peter live it down.

"It wouldn't be surprising after all you boys grow like wheat".

"Don't remind me Jar, that keeps me up at night, spidering could you do you old man a favor and stay little?"

He heard his dad say.

"I make no promises".Ben replied still enjoying the hug.

"It's bound to happen sooner or later, by the way, sir a package arrived for you this morning, from new york".

Ben wasn't sure but Jarvis looked almost annoyed as he said that last part, he looked back at his dad who almost looked like a kid who had just gotten trouble. he noticed how he bit the inside of his cheek."...Right, I'll go check that out, um spiderling, why don't you go upstairs, unpack and get some rest?"

"Okay, dad," He said a little to amuse after witnessing that. Jarvis let him go off his shoulders so he could get his bags but he noticed that Jarvis was still looking at him.

"Stop"

he ordered him.

"Um..is something wrong?

"It will be when you bump into a wall due to how filthy those glasses are".

Ben knew he must have looked like a deer in headlight much like his dad had, he quickly took them off and cleaned on his shirt.

"Better?"

"Slightly," He said with a smile, Ben did the same as he guided him to his room or better said Peter's.

"So, what came from new york?" He asked as he put his bag on the bed and begun to take out his clothing.

"Well, let's just say that the postage may say New your but it truly came from your father's latest questionable life choice" Jarvis replied with the tone as before.

He tilted his head that answer only raised more questions."What do you mean?"

"Nothing, your father will shortly inform you".Jarvis gathered all of his clothes and put in a basket."Don't worry about it, my boy"

Ben took that advise and let himself fall into the bed, he really was tired.he heard his phone buzz.

**_Just got home, BTW why didn't you tell me Pops is like a super hero!-PPS_ **

**I guess I forgot-BRS**

**By the way, I also arrived, sorry I didn't text you right away we were out getting food, you were right, dad is funny!-BRS**

**And super cool he got us burgers-BRS**

**Okay, next time just warn me-PPS**

**_The text you later, bro, in the bathroom so can't stay too long or it would look weird -PPS_ **

**_TMI-BRS_ **

"Eww,"                                                                  he said while laughing as he read that last tex, he put the phone aside and closed his eyes for a second.

It was funny at the start of the day he couldn't picture his pops and dad together as clear as day,  and not only that as the version  of them in the  ripped up photo, but  instead he pictured the four of them but not in an L.A, in his mind they were in Brooklyn in the apartment, he and Peter would probably share a room and just like in the isolation cabin he would have to wake up peter twice. His dad would probably greet them both frit by ruffling their hair and say something that would make them laugh while pops would make brake fast and give them a warm "Good morning", he found himself smiling but he could also feel tear in his eyes and an odd feeling in his Stomach, he could feel his face get red as he thought of, why didn't they have that,what could possibly had been so bad that things turned out this way.,why did his pops lie? his pops hated lying and yet he had done it all these years, why did his dad...no he didn't want to think about that, he didn't want to hate his pops or his dad, he wanted to enjoy there time together not resent it, plus he had mission he decided to push back the tears and ignore all those feeling.

\--

"That's probably him," Tony said as he heard a knock at the door. he headed for it expecting to see Jarvis on the other side but was surprised when he saw his father standing there."What are you doing here?"

"My wife is here" Hawards replied coldly

"I can tell but you usually send Jarvis instead of gracing us with your presence".Tony was still standing at the door blocking his entrance.

"Are going to let me in?"

Tony moved aside and let him in, they both walked over to the living room where Maria was playing with her grandchildren.

"Hello, my love" She greeted him with a smile but didn't get up from her spot.

"Wich one is which ?" Howard asks as he walked over to them.

"Why do you care, going to forgot the second you walk out the door".Tony could feel his father's glare.

"Anthony, be nice, the one in the blue onesie is Peter and the one in red is Ben, in fact, why don't you sit here and look after them for a few seconds, I just need to get something I forgot in the nursery ".

"Maria, I don't think that's a good idea".He protested but Maria was already pulling him down and she was getting up.

"For once I agree, I don't want him to curse and/or scare my twins" Tony protested as his mom grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the nursery."If  later on, they tell me that there having nightmares about the scary angry man it's on you

"They won't, now would you care to tell me why you haven't called Steve"

Tony crossed his arms, "I've had"

"When?"  she asked firmly

"a month ago and before you say anything I can't really, talk to him weekly, his kinda busy" He replied sounding a little harsh

"Look, I'm not going to argue with you but I just don't want you to close yourself off, you're already isolating yourself and you not attempting to talk to your husband..." She took his hand " I don't when I'll be able to see you again, so promise me you'll try to reach out".

"Sure," He said a bit coldly. The walked back to the living room. As they got there he didn't want it but his Mother's words cut deep and he knew she was right,  but he was just so scared that he wasn't doing a good job with as dad, his mom was right he too young to do this especially alone and what the hell did he know about being a dad? that didn't exactly have a glowing example growing up, he loved his children more than anything in the world but the thought of him hurting them made him panic and unsure, not to mention steam whistle far away it scared him to death,he thought that he could do it with Steve by his side and the thought of him not coming back kept him up at night , he hated the fact that part of him resented him for leaving him. Tony knew that this was only pushing them further apart, especially with the fact that they had minimum communication even with their situation,  which the opposite of what he wanted he didn't know what else to do other than what he always relied on what he always did wich was isolation, not the best coping mechanism but better than exploding ,or so he thought ,but he swore that when Steve came back he would tell him all of this and they would fix things together, but for know he pushed everything back and but on his usual mask.

"Okay, stop traumatizing my children".He took the seat his father  

"Goodbye, Anthony and goodbye Peter, Ben". He said before getting up. 

Maria walked to Tony and kissed her son on the cheek  and say goodbye to the twins, she ran her her thumb over where she had kissed him."Alright, this is goodbye"

Tony looked up at her.

"Hey, mom?" Thank you he thought but he didn't  it say it  "...drive safe" 

\---

When he got up he still felt awful, he tried texting Peter thinking that maybe that would make him feel better

_**Hey-BRS** _

_**What up?-BRS** _

_**Just wanted to cheek on you?-BRS** _

_**Are you enjoying New york?-BRS** _

_**Who's pops?-BRS** _

after he sends those messages he noticed the time, Peter was three hours ahead, he was probably having dinner right now and with Pop's strict no phone rule would make it impossible for him to pick up. He felt so alone. he just laid in the bed watching the hours go by, at one point Jarvis knocked and asked if he needed anything. Ben only responded with a no thank you. it was still relatively early and he didn't want to be left one with all these thoughts and feelings, he got up and started walking around. After a while, he started thinking that maybe wasn't a good idea because he ended up getting lost.

"Jarvis? dad?" he called out but there was no responded he sighed in defeat maybe he should just go back and lock himself in Peter's room, he was about to head back but he was stopped by his Dad's voice, he followed it to what seemed to be his office, He looked and was talking on the phone, he seemed frustrated and was surrounded by big books, no, those weren't books they were, photo albums.

"Are you truly capable of going five seconds without listening to yourself talk? look I'm not saying that, well of curse I'm pissed off, you dumbass, you took it without permission...yeah... but...okay, yes, it was nice just-, ask next time, no, not yet, I'll tell him soon".    

  He didn't notice that Ben was standing in the doorway. He debated for a second before speaking up "Dad?"

Tony looked up and signaled him to come in."Look, will finish this later, bye"He hung up and looked back at him. "Hey, kiddo, you sure were exhausted, right? and in the case you heard me use a bad word first, promise you won't repeat them?

Ben nodded but his gaze was glued to the floor."Who were you talking to?"

"No one, don't worry about that right now". He paused and walked to him " Hey, kiddo, are you okay?" 

 Ben once more nodded but he decided to walk past by his dad, he got to  his desk where the albums were, he also noticed a photo double photo frame, one side had an old photo of a man who kinda looked like his dad with a small kid that looked to be around the age of eight they were both wearing goggles and were sitting on a motorcycle and in the other side was the a picture of his dad and Peter,his brother also looked to be eight in the photo and  sitting in a go-kart,there clothing and faces were stains by motor oil but unlike the other picture there smile seemed genuine and they were looking at each other instead of the camera.next to it there was a note  that said 

**_"For the Man who is impossible to shop for"_ **

**_-VVD_ **

He would have given it more attention to it if it wasn't for his dad's hand on his shoulder.

"Peter?".He asked sounding concerned for him but hearing his brother's name instead of his own made him shut down even more

"What were you doing with the photo albums?"

"I was just looking throw them to make sure they were all there, don't ask it's a long story"

"Can I look with you?" 

his dad didn't  say anything he just took a seat in the big chair that was next to him and placed his son on his lap."Sure thing"

As they looked through the photo album Ben would occasionally ask where it was asked where it was taken but tried not to do it too much so his dad get suspicious, he noticed some of them were  obviously taken by Peter but the other's was anybody's guess,

 He could still feel that weird anger and sadness building up inside, especially as they looked did this but didn't feel like talking, he wasn't sure what he wanted but he just ignored it and kept going.

he continued to flip through the pictures but came to a sudden halt when he noticed something. It was the picture of a  woman holding a baby, she was very pretty, well dressed with blonde hair, it was weird Ben had no idea who she was, everyone else so far he recognized from the chart him and Peter made but not her but. "When was this taken?"

"That one? a lifetime ago, I was afraid your grandma Maria might my baby, she refused to let go"

"Grandma?" He looked down at the picture once more."She does look like you, well if you blond...and a girl"

his dad let out a dry chuckle at that."Thanks. That really was a lifetime ago I think you were bearly two mouths at the time, we had just brought you home"

"We?" Ben perked up when he heard that but noticed that this time his dad was the one who had stayed silent but he decided to push his luck regardless before his dad had a chance to change the subject."...do you mean you and my pop's?"

"Yeah..."

The atmosphere in the room completely changed in the room, there was silent and this odd tension in the air

"Dad...What...nevermind?".Ben knew that he had to go through with the mission but he just didn't want all he was felling to explode out of him like a volcano.

"That doesn't sound like nothing, come kiddo talk to me, what's wrong?" 

Ben's lip started twitching "It's just...it's just I don't know how to, I want to ask you like a million questions, but I don't know how to and I'm afraid that you'll get angry and not want to talk me or that your simply not going like me anymore".

"Hey, hey, look at me". He picked up his chin with his fingers ."First of all nothing you do will ever make me like you less, you're my kid, I'm always going to love you, and second of all, I don't want you to ever feel afraid to talk to me, okay?"

"Even if it's about my other dad?"

"Even if it's about your pops" is dad hugged him hugged him tightly."Is that why you been quite all day, you wanted to ask about your him?".

"Pretty much". Ben sniffed his nose."It's just so frustrating not to know anything know?"

"I can imagine". Tony then kissed the back of Ben's head  before answering ."What did you want to ask?"

Ben  couldn't fight his feeling anymore and he also didn't want too, as he spoke his voice was cracking

"What happened, like why isn't he here...why did you leave us?"

Ben didn't notice that he had said "You"  instead of him but thankfully his dad didn't notice, he was more preoccupied with the tears pouring down his face, Ben buried his face in his dad's chest as he comforted him. He could tell his dad was Comfortable

"It's okay, it's okay".

He could tell his dad was uncomfortable talking but he was doing his best to make him feel better.

"That's a hard question to answer but I can tell you this,it wasn't because he didn't love you,you were his world you b-really where, trust me that day we both made the hardest decision of our lives, but a lot of different things happened and we thought it be better if we split up, Unfortunately, you got caught in the middle of all of this, and I'm sorry for that".

Ben continues to cry into his dad's chest, he could feel his hand petting his hair. He pulled away and took off the plastic glasses and cleaned his eyes.

"But, I still don't get it what happened?"  
 

 His dad took a deep breath and an even longer time to answer,

"A lot of things, we separated for while, your dad was in the army, did I ever tell you that? and while he was a lot bad stuff happened, He thought his best friend had died and my parents pass and a lot of more that I can't tell you right now, but  when he got back we things fell apart and we couldn't put them back together"

"Did you not love him anymore?"

His dad grabbed a tissue from his desk and clean the tears of Ben's face, whom by now was a little bit calmer

"No, trust me, kiddo that wasn't the issue, I was still very much in love with him...that part...that part was certain, but the timing was wrong, but that was on us after all we got married when we're too young"

"How old were you?

"I was 18 he was 21"

"That isn't too young"

"Well your a kid, to you 25 is 80, I must be like a 1000 years to you".

"Nah, more like 999" 

"Well, thank you, do try" 

They both started to laugh again.   
"...How long were you married?" 

"not long, a little over 3 years, you want to know something silly I did?" 

"What did you do" 

"I didn't get along with your father when we first met, one of my favorite things to do was tease him and get him angry, and one day I could have just started speaking in Italian so you wouldn't understand me and then I switch to French, Unfortunately, I let it slip that I found him very attractive, several times and it turns out your father was fluent in both languages, it was kinda embarrassing" 

Ben laughed harder than before" 

"Well, that's what you get for being mean"

"Your right"t

He hugged him again this time feeling much better than before.

"You know it's still not your bedtime, we could watch a movie and or something?"

"I'd like that".

The rest of the night wasn't very uneventful. The two were half watching the movie as Ben told stories about camp but sill  but Ben felt ten times better, after that talk/cry with his dad, he didn't feel he still had a lot of questions but  at the very least he wasn't overwhelmingly sad and anxious, he rested his head on his dad's shoulder as he could feel himself getting sleepy, it had been a crazy day. 

"Go to bed," his dad said as he turned off the TV and got up from the couch.

"What?" Ben asked a  sounding a drowsy.    

"Go or your going to fall asleep on the couch, I'll be up there in a second".

"Promise?"

"Promise"

\------

Ben was being really fuzzy so Tony quickly picked him up before he woke up Peter who was sleeping next to him.

"Hey, buddy, what's wrong?" 

He spoke to him sweetly didn't check his diaper he was clean." he'll probably hungry right, sport?" it was about to go into the kitchen to get his bottle but he noticed that Ben was much calmer now.

"Oh I see, you just wanted some attention from Daddy, smart move waiting until Peter was asleep, I didn't have to wait too long your brother is always the first one to fall".

He sat down at the rocking chair that was next to the crib.

"And I'm not complaining. Daddy loves giving you attention". He smiled at him and gently traced his thumb across his chubby cheek. It melted his heart when she reached out to grab his finger.

"Hey, you have a pretty strong grip their buddy, Ben? You know I never wanted this, I always said I would never be married let alone have kids but then I met your pops and I thought he had stolen my heart but apparently I was wrong, because then you two Gremlins came into my life, took my heart split it into two...God, I'm so glad you're a baby don't understand a word I'm saying because this is so happy".

Tony notices help and made a small noise when he mentioned Steve.

"You miss him, huh?" He took a deep breath."So do I, I know I should just call him but that's easier said than done, your pops is in a very dangerous place it's hard to contact him and the chance to say I do I'm too afraid to do, it I know it's selfish but so scared, grown-ups can't get scared too that's hard to believe when you're small ,especially this small and can't even keep your head up by yourself let alone understand what I'm saying,I don't want to be mean sport, daddy  just has weird coping mechanisms".

He brought him does to his chest and strokes back with such care.

"But despite all that, I want you to know that I love both you and your brother very much, regardless of how weird Daddy can be and what happens with Papa, I Will always Love you get to emerald and even if you don't understand this right now you will soon".

-

Ben took off his glasses and folded his glasses and put them on the nightstand before getting into bed.

"Wheres Spidey?" Tony asked as he tucked him in.

"Javis is washing him".He said quickly because he knew Peter had it

"Are you going to be okay without it?" 

"Dad, I'm almost a pre-teen, I don't need a stuffed animal to sleep"

"If you say so".He said with a shrug he and ruffled his hair."Okay, night kiddo"

"Wait, dad, can I asked you something else? He said playing with his hands

"Shoot"

"Did...did you use to sing lullabies  to me?"

He smiled at him as he took a seat on the bed." Every night when you were a baby"

"How did they go?"

"I thought you were almost a pre-teen"

"I'm just curious".

he brought him closer to him ."Okay, but I  must warn you it's cheesy"

"I can handle it" He rested his head on his dad's shoulder as he began to sing.

"You are my little boy, a prince with chocolate eyes so curious and wide courtesy of dad, chubby cheeks and rosy lips that come from me-"

Ben eyes widen he knew this song, his pops would actually sing it when he had nightmares and every time he would ask where it would come from he would just say somewhere special.

"It's been a while since I've heard it".

"Well, it's been a while since I sang it to you".

"that's true"  

as he fell into slumber he did it for a with a smile on his face, knowing that he was one step closer to getting his family back together.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sooo tired, I'm sorry for the awful (like always)writing but if I don't post this now I won't be able to do it for another two day  
> And in case your wondering, yes that was the last time Tony saw his parents


End file.
